The Others
by Angel of Fire1
Summary: Raised by animals, three of the Ronin's are being hunted for the money they are worth. *Shonen Ai* *Finished(Yay!)*
1. The Others

Ok, Disclaimer, don't own the Ronins, though I don't feel bad about it because neither do you /*Sticks out tongue*/ /*Creators run over*/ Uh oh!/*Runs*/Any ways, this is what I plain on writing with what you guys told me your favorite couples are (I tried to do as many as I could, but Mia is NOT being a slut and going with four of the Ronins! I like Mia; I'm making her nice.) Anyways, here it is, and I know the plot is a little odd.

Humans. When will they realize that some things are best 

unknown? Some things aren't meant to be seen, and

rumors aren't meant to be listened to? These fine words 

bring us to our story. One of adventurers, and three 

boys not meant to be met.

"Hey! Kento! Rowen! Anubis! Come here!" The three men looked at each other and shrugged, turning towards their female companion. She grinned when they arrived at her seat, as she held up a newspaper article.

"Look at this! You guys keep saying that you're itching for a new adventure, and that you need some cash too 'cause our stock is runnin' low, so why don't we try this?" Anubis grabbed the newspaper from her hand as she glared at him.

"Hmm, that's interesting, what do ya know. A boy and a tiger. In the Fireside mountains. That's odd."

"But look boys, this boys not the only one! There are two others. One is down by the Oki islands. Human, and he lives in the ocean area, with some whales!"

Well, maybe he's a mermaid." Kento suggested as Rowen hit him.

"One, he's a guy, he would be a merman, and two, mermaids and mermen don't exist, got it?" Kento nodded slowly. Rowen sighed as Anubis continued reading.

"And the last one's another boy, who's living in the forest. With a bunch of wolves? OK, why hasn't he been eaten yet?"

"Maybe they like him?" Kento asked as Rowen sighed.

"Wolves eat people for food, why would they…" He sighed. "Never mind. Why do I even try?" Mia laughed.

"It's OK Rowen, we understand the pain of being smart and surrounded by idiots!" Rowen smiled.

"Finally! Someone understands me!" He hugged her as she grinned. The door to the bar opened, as the group of four turned to look at the new arrivals.

"Ugh. The Warlords. Who came up with their name anyways?" Rowen muttered as a white haired man stepped up, grinning, arm slung across the shoulder of a slender, blue haired girl.

"Get your hands off me Dais." She growled, shoving his arm away.

"For your information, our boss did. If I had a say in it, our name would be much nicer!"

"I can see it now, the Powder Puffs." Cale snickered, as Kayura gave him the glare of death.

"If I hear one more word out of you, you can bet that you will not live to see tomorrow!" 

"You? Hurt me? Ha!" Cale yelped as Kayura grabbed his arm and twisted it back.

"Ahh! Help! Mercy! Uncle! Anything! Anyone, just get her off!" Kayura laughed as she let go of the writhing man.

"Wuss." She muttered, as Sekhmet laughed and pointed at Cale.

"You just got beaten up by a girl in a 12 year olds body!"

"Shut up Snakey, or you're next!" Sekhmet's mouth quickly shut.

"So, what is it our little loser friends are up to?" Mia glared at Kayura.

"Nothing of your concern. And by the way, what happened to all your clothes? Lose them?" Kayura met Mia's glare match for match.

"Actually, I enjoy wearing this. Brings on the attention of men, something you must not be familiar with." 

"Uh oh, cat fight! Rwar!" Rowen exclaimed, as all the other men nodded in agreement. Anubis sighed.

"OK Mia, that's enough fighting with Kayura today." He grabbed Mia by the waist and set her back in her chair since during the battle of words she had rose to her feet. Dais glanced at the table, noticing the newspaper strewn across the table.

"What's this?" He asked, grabbing the sheet moments before Rowen. 

"What? Three boys living with animals? Hey, look, and there's a reward as well!" Kayura turned her attention to Dais.

"Huh?" Money?" Kayura snatched the paper from the other man's hands.

"Oww! Paper cut!" Kayura sighed.

"Stop whining." She quickly scanned over the article, a smile forming on her delicate features. 

"Hmm, these boys are worth a pretty penny. Well, come on boys; time to go to Master Talpa. I think he'll be interested in our findings." The three other boys nodded as Kayura lead them to the door.

"What are we going to do? With the Warlords after them as well, I highly doubt we can find all three!"

"Well, lets at least try to get one. I mean, this is all for the fun, right?" Mia nodded.

"And the money too." Anubis pointed out. 

"We're running low on cash. We're down to out last hundred." Mia winced.

"Dang. We really must stop coming here and buying drinks. We're digging ourselves a hole, aren't we?" Rowen nodded.

"You got that right." Again, Mia sighed. This was so unfair. Why must the Warlords compete with them for EVERYTHING? Why were the Warlords always so interested in them? 

"Well, come on guys. Lets go rest at the hotel, and tomorrow we can start, OK?" The others nodded as Mia led them away.

~*~*~*~

A boy of about 14, tawny and thin for his age, shook his head, water spraying everywhere.

"Cye, you need to go back to the island. You know that you can't stay here in the water, you'll drown." 

"But, but, Mum!" Ocrana sighed.

"Come on honey, you have to go to sleep, it's late, and you know that you are not like I am, you can not sleep in the water, and see in the night." Cye sighed. There was no use protesting against his large mother. He hugged the whale one last time, before swimming to shore.

"You will watch over me, right mum?" 

"Of course. I would never let any harm come to my only child. You may not be like me, but I love you more then you could ever imagine." Cye smiled. 

"Thank you for the reassurance mum." 

"Anytime, love." He smiled, Wet auburn locks plastered to his face. He brushed them aside, and then lay down on the sand.

"Good night mother." 

"Good night, Cye."

~*~*~*~

"Come on White Blaze." The tiger followed the boy. How the tables had turned and when White Blaze didn't know. He had been the fatherly figure over Ryo for as long as he could remember, then suddenly, the boy didn't need to be watched over all the time. He would go out on his own, and there was really nothing that Blaze could do to stop it. And now Ryo seemed to think that HE was the boss, because he was the human. 

"I know its late, but I found this really cool cave over near the lake, and I wanted to spend the night there. Its gonna rain, I can tell. And you know that I don't like going into water unless I've got to." The boy was right about that. Teaching Ryo how to swim had been the hardest thing possible. The boy had simply refused to learn. Finally the two arrived at the crystal lake, as Ryo took a drink. White Blaze padded over, and began to lick up the water.

"See Blaze! That's the cave! Isn't it big?" White blaze watched as the human boy dashed over to the cave. Ryo certainly was a ball of energy. And at the moment the boy reached the cave, there was a clap of thunder as the rain began to come down in sheets. White Blaze groaned, as he made his way over to the cave.

"Aww, Blaze, you're all wet!" White Blaze walked over to the boy, who yelped.

"Don't you dare come near me when you're all wet! Uh uh, no way!" White Blaze grinned in a cat-like way, as he shook himself off like a dog.

"Ahh!!!" Ryo exclaimed, as he was covered in the clear liquid.

"You evil cat! Are you trying to get me sick?" Blaze said nothing as Ryo groaned. Now I'm wet, and eww… I hate being wet!" Blaze said nothing as he curled up on the floor of the cave. Ryo sighed, as he curled up next to the tiger. 

"You're lucky that I'm tired and wet and that I can't hurt you." Blaze rolled his eyes as the two fell into the depths of slumber. 

~*~*~*~

"Sage, go to sleep." 

"But mother, there's something out there. I can sense it." 

"And Son, there always will be. We are not alone in the forest, you should know that." 

"But it's not wild. It's a human." The large wolf rose to her feet, two other wolves standing up next to her.

"Are you sure?" Sage nodded slightly, as he crawled towards the entrance of the cave, peering out in the murky darkness. He closed his eyes, and reached out with something no one else could do. His mother said he was psychic, though he really wasn't sure what that meant exactly. He watched as his mother walked over to the entrance and stood next to him.

"Sage, go back with the others, I'll check it out." He opened his eyes and nodded, as he went over to the rest of the wolf pack. There were two puppies, his mother, and one male, and then him, of course. Though the male didn't really like him. Diego wanted to eat him. Sage walked over to the puppy's, which crawled over to him.

"Hi guys." He muttered. Kiarei licked his face, as he smiled. He slowly pat the coat of the other one, Acrian, who rested sleepily on Sage's lap.

"Hunters." Sage glanced up to see that his mother was back.

"I told you." She nodded.

"Stay in the cave everyone. They will not find us here." Sage nodded as he curled up next to the other puppies. Diego glanced at him, but he ignored the stares of the older wolf. Slowly, he fell asleep with the pups, his mother's eyes watching over them.

~*~*~*~

"See? I told you that master Talpa would be happy when we told him about the boys!" The others shrugged.

"Dais found it Kayura, he was the right one, not you."

"That may be true, but Master Talpa like me best."

"Only because you have long legs and breasts." Cale muttered.

"You are SO asking for it. Wasn't what I did to your arm earlier enough?" Cale cowered behind Sekhmet as Kayura laughed.

"I thought so. Well, which shall we get first?" The men shrugged. Kayura groaned.

"Must I do everything?" The guys nodded.

"Fine, let's go get the water one. I've been wanting to go to the beach for sometime. Show off my new Bikini." Dais eyes widened at the idea, as Sekhmet.

"Don't even think about it. You know Kayura wouldn't go with any of us. She's too "Perfect"." Dais shrugged.

"I could happen." Cale sighed.

"You just keep thinking that bud."

"What are you three talking about that is not for my ears? And why are you three talking about things that aren't for my ears?" The Warlords looked at each other nervously.

"Umm… we were, umm… umm… talking about which guy looked the best!" Dais exclaimed as Cale looked at him oddly.

"Yeah, that's it. Definitely the blonde." He turned to Sekhmet and grinned.

"And you?" Sekhmet looked at Cale in surprise.

"Umm…. Well, I guess the red head. Possibly. He's cute." Kayura looked at the others and sighed. How stupid did they think she was?

"OK, I know that's not what you were talking about, but lets pretend it is. Well, come on you lazy bums, its time to go get us a special little boy worth lots and lots of money!" the other's nodded in agreement. 

To be continued…

Authors note: I know, not the dreaded authors note! Ahh!!!!! Well, anyways, you guys are all being SO helpful. I can't thank you any more for how you guys are helping! There's only one pairing that I know that I'll be doing, but I still haven't decided who Mia will go with (that woman is really hard to pair with someone!) and the Ronin guy's are giving me trouble too. /*Grumbles*/ Bad boys! Well, anyways, just tell me who you want, and if I can't get them in this fanfic, I'll try to write another and pair together the rest. And with how many different guys are wanted with Mia, that could be a lot. Anyways, thank you all again! And I hope this fanfic isn't TOO weird for you. It's kinda like Princess Mononoke, but with more guys. And again, Thanks!


	2. The Others

OK, lets see how fast I can get these chapters out! Dum de de de dum…. Ok, disclaimer, not mine. And I've said that on all my other fan fiction, and the first chapter, so do I really have to say it again? OK, as I said, I only have one couple decided, and I am now having the hardest time with Ryo. It's like, split right down the middle. Should he go with Mia, or Sage? Well, anyways, I'm babbling again, so for your sake, I'll stop. Enjoy! (Not) J

"So, Mia, you've got the paper, you've got the map, who is closest?" Mia glanced over her papers, before looking back up at the group.

"Uh, the mountains. That boy. He's the closest. But he's also the hardest to find. It says here that his tiger, who sources have heard him call "Blaze", is strong enough to carry the boy on his back." She grinned and turned to Rowen.

"Hey, Ro, you're pretty fast. Wanna go head on head with a giant tiger?" He glared at her as she laughed.

"Didn't think so." She turned to her two other friends and smiled.

"Well, what are we waiting for? We slept on it, we thought about it, we figured it out, let's go!" The boys nodded.

"We're off to the Fireside Mountains, to find this boy worth lots."

"Mia, that sounded nothing like the wizard of Oz."

"Watch me not care!" She stated with a wide grin, as she paraded out of the hotel. The other boys sighed as they followed after her.

~*~*~*~

"OK, so the boy's near the Oki Island, right? So all we have to do is go there, right?" The males nodded.

"Kayura, they say that he lives in the water by day, and the land by night, because he can't sleep in the water. Why don't we wait till night?" Dais pointed out as Kayura sighed.

"How about we stay here, on the beach, until night, and then we can get him then." Cale sighed.

"It's too bright! I don't like the light. It… it bothers me." Dais covered Cale's mouth.

"What he meant to say is that he'd love to Kayura." Cale glared at Dais, who whispered down to the blue haired man.

"Kayura. In a bikini. The entire day. Hint hint. Shut up." Cale grumbled as Dais let go of him.

"Man, Dais, I knew you liked her, but still. Do you really want to have to be around her for an entire day?" Dais nodded as Cale sighed.

"Fine, your funeral. But if she were to get burned, I'm going to laugh. She is going to get so mad, and you are going to get the brunt of her anger."

"She's not that bad. If you had a burning back that was all nasty and peeling, you'd be mad too."

"I do burn easily. Stupid sun and its stupid light. When we get there. I'm staying under a tree." Sekhmet stepped up.

"If you REALLY want to get the boy fast, I can poison the water. That'll get him out of there fast, heh heh heh." 

"No killing the fish, or the boy Sekhmet." Kayura warned as Sekhmet walked away muttering.

"And don't think I can't hear what you're mumbling!" Kayura called after him.

"Come on, Cale, you go get Sekhmet. I'll go get the boat ready that Master Talpa is letting us use." Dais smiled.

"Have fun getting Sekhmet." Cale glared at Dais.

"Have fun being stuck, alone, with wild Amazon woman." He stated as he walked away.

~*~*~*~

"OK, Mia, this is what we call a fork in the road. Why is it here? You have a map."

"Umm…. I don't know. According to the map, we, uh, shouldn't be here." Rowen sighed.

"Let me see that." He yanked it out of the young woman's hand, with a yelp of protest.

"Mia! You were reading the map backwards!"

"I was not! See? This is where we started and…" Her voice trailed off when she realized the truth.

"Oh gosh! I'm so sorry!" Anubis patted her back.

"It's OK, no harm done, right Rowen?" Rowen sighed.

"Actually…"

"Right Rowen?"

Umm, yeah, just a few more hours of walking back, and then we have to go on this path here, and then we have to go here, and then, after that, we have to go here…" Kento groaned.

"Who else is getting a headache?" Mia and Anubis raised their hands.

"Aye!" Rowen glared that them all.

"Well sorry! I'm just telling the truth."

"And hurting our heads."

"I give up. Lets just turn around and go back, kay?" The other's nodded as they began to walk back down the path. About and hour into their return to where Mia had, ahem, miss calculated with the map, They realized something that was not good. This boy did not want to be found. And he was very smart, and went to extents to protect himself and the tiger. Mia fell down a very, very deep hole.

"MIA!!!!"

~*~*~*~

"Mum! There's a boat! Why is there a boat?" Ocrana surfaced from under the water, turning to her son, and then to the small boat.

"Humans. They've come for you."

"Me? But mum, what would they want with me?" He questioned as he swam closer to the Whale.

"You are one of them." Cye shook his head.

"I may have been born from them, and technically I may be their species, but I am not one of them. I live with you, and the fish, and Clayna." He smiled. Clayna was his best friend. She was a dolphin. She would take him everywhere, and show him the sites of the sea. He had met her when he was swimming. He had found her stuck in a fishing net, and being the good Samaritan he was, he had rescued her. And they had been un-separable ever since.

"Cye, we must go deeper in the ocean if it is not your wish to go back to your people."

"It is never my wish mum. They pollute the waters, terminate our kind, demolish our homes, and poison our waters. I wish not to be a part of them, for all they do is cause pain and destruction to those of the sea." His mother could do nothing but smile.

"I have taught you well, dear son. Now do not go to the island, OK?" Cye nodded. 

"Of course I will not." 

"Good, now why don't you go find Clayna and you two can play?" He nodded.

"I haven't seen her in awhile, that's a good idea. Good bye mum, I'll be back tonight!" 

~*~*~*~

"Mother, did you here that? It sounded like screaming, from a very far distance."

"Sage, it was in the mountains. What goes on up there is none of your concern, nor is it mine. We live our own lives down here, in the forest." Diego nodded in agreement.

"Boy, you care to much about things that are none of your concern. You are far to nosy for your own good." Sage hung his head.

"I'm sorry, I was just…"

"Say nothing." Sage shut his mouth as he slunk over to the pups. 

"Hey guys."

"Daddy yelled at you. Why did Daddy yell at you?" Sage smiled.

"Daddy always yells at me. But he did it because he wants me to be less nosy."

"What is nosy brother?" Sage sighed.

"I like to ask things that don't concern me."

"Oh."

"But isn't that what Mommy calls "Cur… Cur… Curiosity?" Sage nodded.

"Yes, but Father has a different aspect of it. He thinks I am too old to be curious. But that's OK. As long as mother is here, I am fine." The puppies giggled, as they crawled over him.

"Play with us brother!"

"Yes brother, play!"Sage laughed.

"Fine. But first we must eat. Lets go ask mother if I may take you two hunting."

"But brother, you do not fight with your teeth!" 

" I know. I fight with weapons I made." He un-sheathed his sword. It was hand made, and it had taken him a long time to make. It was how he had spent most of his days since he was about 12, now at the age of 14.

"The blade is so pretty! Can you make me one! Please!" Sage shook his head.

"I'm sorry Kiarei, but you don't have hands, how would you carry it?"

"In my mouth!" She licked his face to emphasis her mouth.

"Acrian, why don't you go ask mother?" The other, quieter of the two puppies nodded, as he ran off to their mother.

~*~*~*~

Ryo's head shot up at the sound of a scream.

"Blaze, what was that?" Ryo leapt onto Blaze's back, as they ran towards the sound of the scream.

"It was one of my traps, wasn't it?" Blaze nodded as he continued running, Ryo sitting high astride his back.

"I hope I didn't hurt the person! I just didn't want anyone to take you, and oh no!" Ryo stated as they followed the sound of the voice.

To be continued…

Authors note: yes, Ryo is very smart, he makes traps, he he he. Gotta love him. Well, since I talked so much in the other chapter, I really don't have anything left to say, except, can everyone now tell the only couple I know I'll be having? Well, thanks to the brave souls that are actually reading this!


	3. The Others

Disclaimer. I didn't mind at first, but this thing is starting to get pretty annoying. I don't own the Ronin Warriors. I think we all have acknowledged that. Anyways, all I can say that came out right in this chapter, Ryo is in barely any clothes /*Wipes away drool*/ Anyways, enjoy! Oh, and sorry this chapter wasn't my normal, two day and here's the next chapter bit. I was working on the sequel to "Through Thick and Thin" and a new Fantasy one. Sorry! And the chaptering is weird. And odd. So I think I'll refrain from doing it till later, heh heh heh. Oh, now you may enjoy!

"MIA!!!!" The males screamed, as Rowen made a grab for her arm. Unfortunately, her fingers slipped through his grasp, as she went tumbling to the ground below.

"Guys, what do we do? Mia kinda fell down a hole."

"Are you OK?" Anubis called down the hole, waiting for a response from the woman below.

"I think I twisted my ankle or did something to it, but other then that, I'm fine." Rowen nodded.

"That's good. We're going to try to figure out a way to get you out of there."

"Well, that's good to know."

"Guys…" Rowen and Anubis sighed.

"Not now Kento."

"Umm, guys."

"Be quiet! We're trying to figure out a way to get Mia out."

"Guys! The guy with the tiger is coming this way!"

"What!" Two heads shot up, and turned to where Ryo and Blaze were coming from.

"Crap!" Ryo raced towards the group of people, tying a rope around Blaze's neck while Blaze spurred forward. When they arrived, Ryo tossed the lose end of the rope down the hole, and climbed down. Mia looked on in horror at the boy.

"Jeesh, you don't need to be scared of me. Not like I'm going to eat you. I'm just here to help." He wrapped a strong arm around her slender waist, then grabbed the rope with his free hand.

"Blaze!" the other three watched as the tiger pulled back, extracting the two from the hole.

"Mia!" The boys exclaimed as the hugged her.

"Thank goodness you're OK!" Mia grinned.

"By the way, thank you for saving me." The boy nodded.

"My fault you got hurt. My hole, if you haven't guessed." She grinned.

"No harm done. Well, except my leg. But that's it." Ryo nodded. He though for a moment, before reaching into a small, deerskin bag tied around his side. He yanked out a piece of cloth that he had found once, and set her onto the ground. He then took her foot and wrapped it around the injury tightly, using vines to tie it in place. 

"There, that should help!" he exclaimed, as he leapt to his feet, then helped her up.

"What is it that you came up here for? Are you different, or are you people after Blaze as well?" He ran his fingers through the fur of the tiger, as White Blaze rubbed up against the boy.

"Actually, we came for you both. We were in need of money, and you and the tiger are worth a lot." Ryo pulled Blaze protectively to him. 

" You may stay in my cave with White Blaze and I for today, so that the lady here may heal, but please, after that you must leave. It is not safe for us to be near you if you so wish to take us from our home. Please, lady, ride on Blaze. I don't want you aggravating your injury any more. He will not harm you." She nodded as Ryo helped her onto the tiger.

"Come on Blaze. The rest of you, follow me." The three men nodded as the followed the boy away.

~*~*~*~

"Clayna!" Cye called out as his friend swam towards him. He hugged her when she arrived, as he laughed.

"I've missed you!" 

"Me too! I have been soooo bored without you to play with. Life in the sea is boring if you don't have anyone to spend it with." Cye grinned.

"I know exactly what you are talking about. So, where do you want to go today?" 

"Hmm… how about the coral reefs? We haven't been there in some time." Cye smiled to his best friend.

"Sure, that sounds like fun!" She giggled as he grabbed onto her fin. He could swim fast for a human, but keeping up with a dolphin was just too much for him to handle. He held on tightly as she burst ahead, swimming against the torrents that tried to stop her from going where she wished. Finally, they arrived, as Cye swam over to the land near the water where Clayna remained. He pranced along the coral, as Clayna laughed. 

"Come back to the water, you know that I can't go to the land!" He laughed as he continued prancing around, feet immune to the tearing of the coral beneath him. 

"Cye! Stop being so mean!" He giggled as she joined in. Her laughing stopped, though, when she noticed that they were not alone.

"Cye! Get off of the land! Run!" She screamed as Cye turned around to face the people behind him.

"CYE!!!!" She screamed.

"Nighty night, fish boy." Cye fell to the ground, needle imbedded in the back of his neck. The last thing he saw before darkness enveloped him, was Clayna, screaming for him to run.

~*~*~*~

He didn't enjoy killing, and easily it was one of his least favorite things to do, but it had to be done, and he did what he had to with no complaints. And that was why, right now, he was standing behind a duck, sword posed over the unsuspecting creature. He was about to strike, when something pounded against his head, causing him to fall to the ground with a yelp, and clutch his head. What was happening he did not know, and why he was seeing an auburn haired boy in pain also went beyond him. He watched as the duck flew away, and with a pained sigh, struggled to his feet.

"Brother, are you OK?" The two pups ran over to him, as he gave them a weak, reassuring smile. 

"Yes, I am fine sister, brother. Do not worry about me." 

"Brother, carry me!" Sage sighed as he lifted up his sister into his arms.

"Yay!" She exclaimed.

"Acrian, will you please grab my sword?" the other pup nodded as he took the blade into his mouth.

"Thank you." Sage stated as they made their way back to their cave.

~*~*~*~

"By the way, my name's Ryo."

"I'm Mia."

"Rowen."

"I'm Kento!"

"And I am Anubis. It is a pleasure to meet you." Ryo nodded as he patted the tiger.

"This Is White Blaze. He's taken care of me since my dad died when I was five." Ryo knelt down next to the lake and began to drink.

"Umm, Ryo, animals go to the bathroom in that water." Ryo shrugged.

"So? They have to go to the bathroom somewhere."

"But you're drinking it."

"So? The water you drink comes from the water in your toilet and the water that you bath yourself with as well." Kento turned to Rowen.

"Is he telling the truth?" Rowen nodded.

"Eww! See if I drink water from a sink again."Ryo shrugged and continued drinking the clear liquid.

"The cave's over there. Go make yourself at home. Blaze, show them around." The tiger nodded as he led the group away to the cave. Ryo sighed as he looked down at himself. It had been a long time since humans had been near him. And he was well aware that he was a site for sore eyes. His hair was not extremely long, he had cut it with a sharp rock not long ago, and he knew that he was in good shape, from having to lift things so often. But all that he wore was a deerskin loincloth thingy, and a tunic made out of the same thing. He knelt over the water, dunking his head under, and rubbing at his hair, trying to clean it even if only slightly. When it was as clean as it was going to get, he wrung out the black silk, and shook his head, spraying droplets of water everywhere. He'd have to clean his body tonight. He didn't want to offend the girl, Mia, he thought, by bathing right now. He rose to his feet, and made his way back to the cave.

~*~*~*~

Groggily, Cye opened his sea-green eyes. He observed the surroundings of a very dark, cell-like place.

"Where am I?"

To be continued…

Ahh, poor Cye baby. Oh well, he'll live. For now /* Cue evil laughter*/. Anyways, I really don't know who to put together, so basically, until I write something that ends up being a major hint to the coupling, I'm going to put off pairings. Oh well, I'll have the next chapter out soon enough. I'm getting pretty good about writing a chapter at least every other day. Well, thank ya for reading! 


	4. The Others

Hi all! I actually took a break from "The Mage's Tale" (I actually have four chapters of it, but I never had time to post them and I have been kicked off the internet almost all the time. My brother just got the game "Phantasy Star Online, which he is obsessed with. So I can type these things up, but not post. Anyways, with that out of the way, and without further ado, on with the show! Err… story. 

The Others- Chapter 4

"Why do you want me? Why did you take me? What did I do?" Cye's words were met with a fierce slap to the cheek. Cye whimpered slightly and cringed, trying to get as far away from the people holding him captive. Nothing in his short life had prepared him for this. His mother, though she had taught him much, had never truly explained the nature of humans.

"For you are worth more gold then you are worthy." Cye blinked in confusion. She had also never taught him what gold was for that matter.

"What is gold?" He asked innocently, met with a roar of laughter.

"Gold, dear boy, is the most important thing in this world." Cye shook his head rapidly.

"That is far from the truth! Nothing means more then love and respect! They are the highest treasures man has to offer!" Again he was met with laughter.

"Well, laughing at what I have to say is quite rude." Again he was slapped, jerking his head to the side. He slowly wiped away the blood that trickled down the side of his mouth.

"Quite yourself boy. You will be no use to us dead, so don't make us hurt you." Cye glared to the best of his ability, which was, incidentally, not good.

"What will they do with me?" He asked softly, hoping for a response.

"Who?" Cye took a deep breath.

"The people that you are selling me to. What is it that they want from me?" The woman of the group shrugged.

"Doesn't matter to us. All we know is that you are worth big bucks." Cye nodded faintly, as they left him in the cell alone. Alone to think about just what was in his future.

~*~*~*~

Morning came, and along with it the awakening of our hero's, along with their new friend. If that is what you would call him. He was awake hours before any of the others awoke, first up being the redheaded Anubis, who was quite generous, prepared to cook for the others. He had become acquainted with the others during a severe bar fight, having saved the rather drunk and rather helpless Mia. After that, he had become a permanent fixture in their group, tagging along as a cook, and for the lack of adventure in his life at the time.

Mia had met Rowen and Kento during a raid. Thieves had tried to attack her wagon while she was traveling, and they had saved her, losing the wagon and all of her possessions. She had joined them with lack of anything else to do since her life's work of pottery had been lost with the wagon and her horse. They taught her how to fight, along with self-defense and tricks of the trade. She was now quite efficient at reading maps, along with defending herself in one-on-one combat. She had been with them for about 2 years now, since Kento had been 14, and Rowen 13. She herself was 19, as was Anubis.

Little was truly known about Rowen and Kento, nor how they had met. But they shared more then just your common friendship, or comradeship. There was something more to their relationship, and they always were looking out to defend each other.No one pressed the issue of their relationship, and they told nothing.

Since Ryo had met these people, his senses had increased, and he had felt better then he had in years. He also slept more soundly, his elemental powers he had done so much to hide increased, giving him strength. But he still felt empty. As if there was something more missing. He shrugged it off and turned to see what Anubis was cooking. His curiosity grew as he looked over what the other man was cooking.

"What is that?" He finally asked as Anubis turned to look at him.

"Please tell me that you have had soup before." Ryo shook his head.

"Not that I remember." Anubis sighed as he took a spoonful of the soup, and let Ryo taste it. Ryo's eyes lit up and a smile formed on his face after he adjusted to the flavor.

"Wow! This stuff is really good!" Anubis chuckled softly.

"It's done anyways." The green-eyed warrior slowly filled a bowl that Mia had made with the soup, and handed it to Ryo, along with a wooden spoon. Ryo took the bowl and ignored the spoon, letting it tumble to the floor. He brought the bowl to his lips as it was yanked away from him. He looked up in annoyance at Anubis, who was looking at his sternly.

"Young man, that is not how you eat. You're among humans, now eat like one. That involves a spoon and some manners." Ryo groaned as he was handed back his spoon.

"Now eat it how I fed it to you earlier."

"But then you can't taste it well! It doesn't fill your mouth with flavor!"

"And that doesn't matter. Now eat up, and eat right. I'm going to go wake the others up." Ryo grumbled as he took the spoon. The moment Anubis turned his head, Ryo began drinking it form the bowl.

"I hear that!" Ryo groaned as he began to eat from the spoon again. Anubis made his way over to the heavier of the blue haired boys first, well aware that awakening him would prove to be the easiest.

"Kento, get up, food." Immediately the boy jerked up.

"Food?" Anubis pointed to the pot that he had made the soup in as Kento grinned.

" I am so there. By the way, why is Ryo eating strait from the bowl?"

"Ryo!"

"Ahh! Why'd you have to tell him that boy?"

"Boy!?"

"That is what you are, right?" Anubis laughed.

"Yes Ryo, that is what he is. But he would prefer you call him "Kento"." Ryo sighed.  
"Ok,_ Kento, _why did you have to tell him what I was doing?" Kento shrugged.

"Didn't know what you were doing." Ryo grumbled but ceased in complaining.

"Anubis, why aren't you getting the other two up?" Ryo asked as he finished off his bowl of soup.

"Waking those two is like waking the dead. They sleep like logs, or dead people. You can try if you want though." Ryo nodded as he approached the others. First he looked at the woman, trying to eye what could possibly be her weakness. He grinned and decided to do what his father had done to him as a child. He smiled and began to tickle the woman, who jerked up in a fit of confused laughter.

"Well, that's one." He said with a grin as he turned to the other boy. He may provide more of a challenge. 

"Anubis, why did he just tickle me?" Anubis shrugged.

"He wanted to try to wake you two up." She groaned.

"I hope he has fun waking Rowen, If that's humanly possible." Anubis laughed as he pointed to the soup.

Food's getting cold." She nodded and made her way over to where Kento sat, downing the food. Anubis smiled as the two ate hungrily at the food, and then turned his attention to the Black haired by, still struggling to awaken the blue haired boy.

"Give up Ryo. It won't work."

"One more try." Ryo begged as Anubis nodded.

"Knock yourself out." Ryo nodded. He walked over to Rowen and kneeled next to the boy. If Blaze could do it to him, why couldn't he do it to this boy?He moved his face close to the sleeping boys, and let his tongue run over the other boys face. Rowen leapt up in shock.

"What the hell?!"

To be continued…….

Yeah, Ryo's cool. He's the cat boy, he he he. He licks peoples' faces. OK, Ill calm down. I haven't written this story in awhile actually, but I figured I'd try again. And looks can be deceiving with Rowen and Kento. I'm just messing with ya'll. Well, I hope you like it and the next part will be out soon! I think….


	5. THe Others

The Others- Chapter 5

"Mother! There are some people near the woods! No, wait…" He closed his eyes and focused on what her was hearing.

"The mountains!" Sage began to bolt towards where he was sensing something, but Domingo stepped in front of him. Sage sighed.

" Please, Domingo, you must let me go! I can sense something! It's important, I can tell!" The wolf growled as the boy slowly stepped back.

"No! You have no right to go near the mountains. They are out of our territory, which means they're out of yours. Just because you look human doesn't give you any more rights then we have." Sage gulped slowly.

"I'm sorry…" He muttered, hanging his head.

"You know the pups do whatever you do! We can't risk them venturing out. And we can't risk you either. Your mother worked hard to keep you alive this far. Raising a human is harder then it seems. Especially such a rebellious one." Sage nodded.

"I am sorry. Could I go if the pups didn't…"

"NO!" Sage winced at the bark of the wolf.

"Ok sir, I will respect your wishes." Domingo smirked.

"I thought so." Sage winced as Domingo nipped him, warning him not to try anything later. Sage hustled back to the cave, Domingo hot on his trail.

~*~*~*~

"What?" Ryo asked, not understanding why fury raged in Rowen's eyes.

"You licked me!" Ryo shrugged.

"Blaze licks my face all the time. Why can't I do the same to you?" Rowen glared at him.

"Because Blaze is a cat, nitwit! There is a difference between a cat and a human!" Ryo hung his head.

"I didn't mean to…." Kento laughed.

"Just ignore him Ryo. He's always like this in the morning. He really knows that you meant good. Just, humans don't do that kinda stuff." Ryo nodded slowly.

"Don't worry bud! Come on, we better get on our way. Are you coming with us or going?" Kento asked casually as Ryo looked on in confusion.

"I can choose?" The group laughed.

"Of course!" Ryo thought for a moment.

"You aren't going to turn Blaze and me in, are you?" Anubis shook his head.

"I would..." Rowen muttered as Kento slapped him behind the head.

"Of course not Ryo. So, coming or going?" Ryo glanced at Blaze who shrugged.

"I guess we will go with you. What are you doing anyways?"

"Well, we're going to try to find this other guy."

"Yeah, maybe he wont join our group and we can actually get money for once."

"Rowen, stop bitching. It's the morning, you're up. Get over it."

"Mia! Language!'  
"What does "Bitch" mean?"

"Now look what you've done?" Mia laughed.

~*~*~*~

"Kayura, where do we turn him in? I mean, who do we give him to?" Dais asked as Kayura shrugged.

"How do I know? I guess we just give him to Talpa." Dais nodded, as he lifted the now unconscious boy into his arms. Kayura smiled as she watched Dais's muscles move as he shifted the boy in his grip. So she liked him. What could she do? He was good-looking, interesting, and would do anything for her. What was not to like? Plus, the other two warlords liked each other. He was the only one left without a… partner. And she was more then willing to take that position. But the question was, how to get him to want her. And to get the other two together as well. She laughed. Sekhmet and Cale, such opposites yet she knew they cared more then they let on. Just like her and Dais. And she didn't mind that they were gay. Who cares? They want to be gay, let them be gay. And she wasn't going to stop them.

"Well, come on Dais." She stated, pulling herself away from her train of thought. He nodded as she led him off towards Talpa.

~*~*~*~

He wanted to go out. He wanted to find out just what he was sensing. But he couldn't. Domingo watched him with beady black eyes, and he did nothing to make Domingo mad. At least he hadn't yet.

"Mother, may I go hunt?" He asked as his mother turned to him.

"Yes, but go alone today." He smiled. He was hoping that she'd say that.

"Than you mother!" He said, nuzzling her softly before standing up.

"Be careful my son. I have heard from the other animals in the forest that there are hunters nearby." He nodded.

"But I do not look like a wolf? Would they truly hunt me?" She sighed.

"Actually, you are the one they are after. Many people are after you for reasons yet unknown." Sage looked on in surprise. 

"Well, do not fear mother, no one will touch me! I will see to my own safety!" His mother shook her head, yet said nothing.

"Be careful. You are still but a child and nothing against grown men, no matter how well you wield your blade." Sage shrugged off the thought as he ran off.

"Love you mother!" He called from a distance, as he began his hunt.

~*~*~*~

Night fell, and the young adventurers had taken to rest. But for reasons unknown, Ryo couldn't sleep. He felt odd. Like something had aroused deep within him. It wasn't something bad, exactly, it was just odd. And he couldn't feel it when he was around the woman. But the others, he felt something. And something else was nearby. And he wanted to see what it was. Slowly he crept away from where the others lay, nestled in their blankets, minds filled with dreams of happiness. Or at least, that's what he hoped the dreams were filled with. He glanced over at White Blaze, who had awakened at his movement.

"Blaze, I'll be back soon. I'm just going to go see something. Watch the others for me." The cat nodded as Ryo began to leave. It was about an hour of walking before he found something. Or, to be truthful, something found him. He was sent flying from the impact of another's weight, knocking the breath from him. He felt his arms pinned beneath him, and opened his eyes to see a pair of piercing violet eyes glaring at him.

"What are you doing in my forest?" The boy demanded, letting go of one of Ryo's hands so that he could instead hold the sword to the black haired boy's throat. 

"Answer me!" He demanded as Ryo stuttered to respond.

"I… I…" He thought for a moment, fear filling his eyes.

"I came because I felt…" He took a deep breath. This boy, it was what he had sensed. What had brought him here. 

"I felt you." The blonde looked on in confusion. This was one of the people he had felt earlier. He knew he had felt something, and this boy was it.

"I don't care that you felt me." He removed himself from a top the other boy.

"Get out. Leave this forest, and don't come back." He growled as he stood up, holding his sword in a fighting stance.

"And if you choose not to…" He posed his sword over the boy who remained on the ground.

"At least tell me your name." Ryo asked as the boy rolled his eyes.

"It is Sage. Now leave! And remember, if you ever come near a wolf, I will be the one you deal with." He glared hatefully that the other boy before bolting away. Ryo watched as he ran.

"Sage… He is the one raised by wolves." Ryo stood up and dusted himself off.

"I will tell the others in the morning." He shook his head. What was it about this boy, and Rowen, and Anubis, along with Kento, that set him off? What was it that he was sensing? He growled to himself. Why couldn't he figure it out? He was severely confused. He sighed as he rid the mutual feelings from his head and began back to the camp.

To be continued….

Authors note: I really love these things, though no one really reads them. Oh well. Yes, I figured out the warlords… now if only the Ronins were as easy. Dang you Ryo! Who do you go with! Bad boy! Anyways, I have no idea where this is going. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I'll try to start writing this one more often then I do /*Smiles innocently*/ I have been having a little too much fun with 


	6. The Others

Curiosity killed the cat, but for a   
while I was a suspect.  
-Steven Wright

OK, did anyone notice that I changed Diego's name to Domingo? I didn't even realize it! I'm sorry everyone! I guess its Domingo now though…. Its drilled in my brain that way. Well, anyways, on with the story.

The Others- Chapter 6

Ryo padded along the mossy forest floor, visions of the other boy in his head. He couldn't knock the fact that this boy seemed almost _familiar_ to him. Like the others had when he had first met them. But he brushed the mutual feeling off as he arrived back at the camp. White Blaze turned to look at him, and he shrugged towards the cat.

"I'll explain everything later." He stated as the cat nodded. With a confused sigh at everything that had been going on in his head, he laid down to go back to sleep like the others around him. But his dreams were filled with visions of the odd boy, and the feeling that there was still something missing, even after he had met this boy.

~*~*~*~

Sage struggled to get up with only one functioning arm. He had come home late. Very late. And to make matters worse, he found out that Domingo had followed him the entire time, and was well aware that Sage had not listened. And that led him to his arm. Domingo had been angrier then Sage had ever seen him. After yelling at the boy, he had lashed out, only once, with his claws. Sage's left arm was torn and bleeding, and he was now struggling to clean the wound at a small creak near the cave that he called home. He winced as he watched the water around his arm turn pink, and he pulled it away after the running water stung too much. Sage wasn't stupid. He wrapped a large leaf around the wound many times then tied two vines around it with his mouth and his free arm. After struggling to do that, he made his way back towards the cave. Not at the cave, but near it. Domingo had punished him accordingly. If he didn't want to sleep at the cave and would rather go out and play detective, then he wasn't allowed in the cave. Sage fell asleep on a rock, curled up in a ball, shivering slightly.

~*~*~*~

When Rowen awoke, much earlier then usual, by about 2 hours, he decided to venture off, and check out what else was around this forest. He wandered around for a while, a run in with a few deer being the most exciting thing he came across the entire time. That was until he came across a small creak. He followed it for lack of anything better to do, yet froze when he saw a figure knelling next to the water's edge. He held his breath, not wanting to be discovered by the boy, and watched as the boy clutched his left arm, pulling apart vines and leaf that he had used to make a cast. Rowen winced when he saw the boy's injury. It was severely infected, and deep enough that it needed to be stitched. And the boy didn't look like he know anything about how badly injured he was. In fact, the boy seemed to be as primitive as they came. He dawned only a loincloth to cover his lean figure. The boy cried out as he dipped his arm in the water, and Rowen knew that the water was not healthy and pure enough to cleanse the wound. Most likely it would just make it worse.

"Excuse me?" Rowen finally said, not being able to take this boy treating himself like so. The boy looked up in surprise at being watched, but the expression on his face turned into anger almost immediately.

"Another one." He growled, as he rose to his feet. Rowen was slightly shocked at the height of the boy. Knelling down, he had seemed far less dangerous. Rowen stepped back the moment the boy pulled out a sword. It was interesting, it wasn't store bought. It was definitely hand-made, and crafted quite well to be exact.

"Why won't you people just leave me alone?" Rowen looked on in confusion.

"How did you hurt yourself?" Rowen asked softly, as the boy looked away.

"That matters not to the likes of you. Human." The blonde growled as Rowen laughed.

"News flash dude. You're human too." Rowen didn't see it coming, and was knocked out of breath at the impact of the other boy. Which wasn't too bad, the boy was not heavy in the slightest, in fact, you could see his ribs when he stood.

"I am not human!" He growled, face next to Rowen's.

"Humans are evil. They pollute our lands and kill the forest. I may look like one, but as far as being one? I am not." The boy was about to jump up, when Rowen grabbed him.

"Let go of me." The boy demanded as Rowen kicked the sword from the boys grip. 

"Stop struggling." Rowen warned as he pulled some medicine out of his pocked. He was suddenly glad that he was the one that carried the first aid utensils with him.

"I said let go!" The boy yelled, his struggling growing more frantic. Rowen had to literally sit on the boy to stop him.

"You are hurt. You need help." Rowen stated, putting a glob of the medication on his fingers.

"Even if I did, I would never get it from a human." Rowen rolled his eyes. He could easily guess that this was the wolf boy.

"Just calm down and it wont hurt as much." Sage growled again, and Rowen patted his head.

"Good wolf boy." Rowen joked, but yelped as the boy's teeth clamped down on his finger.

"Oww!" Rowen exclaimed.

"Jerk." Rowen muttered. Sage just smiled. His smile vanished the moment that Rowen placing the ointment on Sage's cut. Sage screamed. Obviously, it hurt and the boy was not used to medication. Rowen never saw it coming. When a 100-pound wolf lunged at you, you felt it.

"Mother!" Sage exclaimed as he scrambled to his feet. Clutching his arm, he ran over to the safety of the wolf. Rowen scrambled to his feet and stepped back when the wolf growled.

"I'm sorry! I was just trying to help him! He's hurt, he needs it!" She growled again, before nuzzling Sage to make sure Rowen hadn't hurt him.

"I am alright mother… It just… hurts." Sage tried to keep the tears from shedding. The burning sensation in his arm was unbearable. This human wasn't helping him! He was hurting him.

"Go away! I told you to leave!" Sage exclaimed.

"And take your friend with you!" He added as Rowen shook his head.

"I was only trying to help." Rowen muttered.

"Leave!" Sage demanded as Rowen shook his head.

"You know that if you don't get that treated you will get feverish and it could kill…." Sage's eyes flared in anger.

"Go away!" Rowen winced at the boys raised voice, before going into a run. He had to tell the other what just happened.

~*~*~*~

"Guys! I just ran into the wolf guy!" Rowen gasped through breaths the moment he made it back to their camp. Ryo glanced up.

"You mean the blonde guy?" Rowen looked at Ryo oddly. He nodded faintly.

"How did you know that?" Ryo sat up.

"Because last night I ran into him. He jumped on me, and told me to get out of his forest." Rowen laughed.

"Same guy. I tried to help him. He's really hurt. He's got gashes on one of his arms. They're really infected. I had medicine, and I sat on him to hold him down, but then he screamed, and a wolf came and knocked me off him. Then he yelled at me to leave. And with a big, over-protective wolf around, I was not going to press issues." Ryo nodded.

"Same here. But I didn't meet the wolf. Just him." Rowen nodded.

"So you must be the one he was talking about." Ryo looked on in confusion.

"Huh?"

"He was talking about another human. He told me and the other human to leave." Ryo nodded.

"How badly hurt is he?" Mia asked as Rowen turned to face her.

"Really bad. If he doesn't get help, it'll kill him. I wonder how he got so hurt anyways. An animal would have to have done it, but he lives with the strongest animals in the forest. No one messes with wolves." Kento shrugged.

"Maybe a wolf did it." Rowen shook his head.

"No, she was protecting him."

"There could be more then one." Anubis piped up from where he say, cooking. Rowen shrugged.

"Could have. We need to find him though. He needs help. And we all have to be there. I was able to hold him alone because I had his working hand. And I got his sword away from him too. That played a major part in it." Ryo nodded.

"He is quite a swordsman. I wonder how old he is. I mean, he made that sword himself. But he doesn't look very old at all." 

"I know Ryo. Its weird."

"Ok everyone, time to eat!" Anubis exclaimed as he handed everyone their food. He made sure to give Ryo a fork, along with a warning glance. As soon as Anubis turned, Ryo stuck his tongue out that the older boy. Rowen and Kento stifled their laughter.

"Well, let's set out after we eat. We need to find him." The others nodded to Mia, as they all began to eat their food.

~*~*~*~

Sage was in and out of consciousness. All he could feel at the moment was his mother licking his face, and that was it.

"Mother! Is brother going to be ok?" Acrian asked as he pranced around his older brother.

"Acrian, be quiet, please. Your brother needs rest." Sage listened to their conversation until his sister ran in, panting.

"Mother!" Kiarei exclaimed as her mother turned to her.

"What is it, young one?" The panting pup bolted over.

"There are humans in the forest! Five of them! I think that they may be after brother!" Sage listened to his little sister run over to him.

"Stay here, young ones. Watch over your brother." The two pups nodded. Minutes after his mother left, Sage heard two people enter the cave.

"I don't want to do this to him, but he need medical attention." Sage groaned. That voice. The obnoxious blue-haired boy.

"Rowen, is that him?" A highly feminine voice added. Sage forced his eyes to open and watched in blurred vision as the blue haired boy nodded.

"He's got a fever. And Oh my gosh! Look at his arm!" Mia exclaimed.

"Don't come near the pups." Sage croaked, his throat sore from lack of liquid. He struggled to sit up, and pulled the pups to him, falling back against the cave wall.

"Wow. Seems that he's not as mean as I thought. He's just over-protective. The entire time he was attacking us, he was doing it to protect the little ones. Well, don't worry, Sage, we aren't going to hurt the pups." Sage sighed in relief. That was all that mattered to him, the pups' safety.

"We just want you." An alarm went off in his head.

"We don't want to hurt you, but you need medicine. It's killing you!" Rowen exclaimed at the moment Ryo and the others arrived at the cave. Ryo looked in horror at the blonde.

"My gosh! He looks really bad! We have to get him to a… a…" Ryo thought for a moment as the word came to him.

"Hospital!" The others nodded. Rowen knelt down next to Sage.

"Pups, we don't want to take him away from you, but he needs help or you aren't going to have brother for very long." The pups backed off.

"Ok Sage, they say its Ok, now all we need is your Ok." Sage didn't want to talk. Rowen sighed and slid his arms under the boy, lifting the barely clad boy into his arms. Sage tried to struggle, but he just couldn't force that much movement on himself. His head was about to explode, his body was extremely overheated, and he was dehydrated. He hadn't had anything to drink in a day and a half.

"Come on guys, we better get him to the hospital." Rowen stated as Mia set her hand on the blonde's forehead, and immediately pulled it away.

"He's like a human sauna!" She exclaimed as Rowen nodded.

"Come on, before the wolves get back." Ryo stated as the group ran out of the cave.

To be continued……….


	7. The Others

A/N: It is true that you can get sick from a cut for anyone that was wondering. I was watching 20/20 or something like that. Dateline maybe, but they had a story on about a guy that got scratched by his cat, didn't get it treated, and he ended up having to have his arm amputated. And a wolf's cut is far worse then a cat's. Well, there's some useless information for ya! Well, ta ta and enjoy!

The Others- Chapter 7

"What happened to this boy? How did he get these wounds? Who is he?" Anubis sighed. This doctor was really getting on his nerves. He was not in the mood to field all these questions, and in truth, he couldn't.

"Please, just tell me what his condition is?" Anubis asked as the doctor sighed.

"He is in stable condition. He's not out of the woods yet, but he is stable. He had a fever of 104.6! Why wasn't his wound treated when he received it?" Anubis groaned. It was then that Mia walked out of Sage's room.

"Anubis, he isn't looking to well. Kento went to get us food, and Ryo and Rowen are in the room with Sage. He still is unconscious." Anubis nodded at the moment Rowen ran out of the room.

"Guys, he woke up!" He exclaimed as Anubis and Mia ran into the room.

"Where am I?" The boy asked softly, as he noticed the IV in his wrist. He gasped and tried to pull it out, but was stopped by Ryo, who sat in the seat closest to the bed.

"Sage, you're in a hospital." Ryo stated, setting Sage's hand down.

"Go away! I'm not supposed to be here!" Sage tried to sit up but a wave of dizziness stopped him.

"Yes you are. You were hurt, so we brought you here." Ryo stated softly, keeping his voice low to prevent himself from scaring the blonde.

"The pups? Are they ok?" Sage asked immediately as Ryo nodded.

"They are fine. I believe that they are with your mother." Sage sighed slightly in relief. Sage again tried to sit up, but Ryo stopped him.

"Sage, don't move. You need to rest. If you do this without causing trouble, we may let you go home." Sage glowered at the boy.

"May? You people just barge into my life, take me away from my family, and then you are trying to keep me? No! I refuse to stay with you! Now take me home!" Ryo sighed and watched as the doctor slipped a sedative into the IV. For that, the black haired boy was thankful.

"Ryo, need some help man?" Ryo turned to Rowen and sighed.

"Yeah, I think trying to get him to realize that we are helping him is a lost cause. Be my guest and try if you want. Not like he isn't going to faint from the sedatives in a minute anyways." Rowen laughed. Ryo must have asked the doctor what a sedative was. The blue haired boy slowly walked over to the blonde, and sat at the end of the bed.

"Not _you_." The blonde muttered as he turned his head away from Rowen.

"Feel the love." Rowen stated, rolling his eyes.

"There is none." Sage muttered as Mia and Ryo stifled their laughter. Sage really hated Rowen with a passion.

"Ok, wolf boy. I know that you want to go home to your mommy, but you have to get better first. You are what humans call _sick_, Ok? You take medicine, get well, and then you go back to your little forest. And you get your clothes back too." Rowen watched as Sage felt under the blanket and his eyes widened.

"What is this?" He demanded, tugging at the end of the shirt.

"It's called a shirt. People wear it." Sage glared at Rowen, using his free hand to try to pull it off, and using his leg to kick Rowen off the bed. The blue haired boy landed with a thump on the floor.

"Hey!" Rowen exclaimed as he stood up. He then burst out laughing as he watched Sage chew on the edge of the shirt, trying to pull it apart with his teeth. Even Ryo and Mia couldn't hold back their laughter. Sage glared at them.

"What are you humans laughing at?" Mia said nothing, but used her fingers to point to his shirt.

"What? This stupid thing? Well if my eyes are serving me correctly, you are wearing them too." Mia finally calmed down enough to speak. Ryo and Rowen on the other hand, hadn't been so lucky.

"We weren't laughing at you wearing it. We were laughing at your attempt to get it off." Sage scowled.

"Well I'm sorry but I have never worn one of these before." She giggled.

"So, Ryo, Rowen, should we tell him how to get it off?" Rowen shook his head.

"Nah, it's more fun to watch him try." Ryo nodded in agreement, still grinning. Sage groaned in annoyance, his groan turning into a yawn. These stupid humans were far to easily amused. His eyelids hung, and he tried to get stop himself from drifting off. But after struggling against his body for a few more minutes, he lost the battle, and drifted into sleep.

~*~*~*~

"Where am I?" Cye asked as he looked around at the large home he was in. Very large home.

"I see you have awakened." Cye's head shot up at the stranger's voice. He glanced at something that he guessed was a chair, squinting in the darkness to try to get a good look at the figure occupying the furniture. He failed though, and sighed in defeat.

"Who are you?" Cye finally asked as the person chuckled. It was a male, Cye was sure of that. The person's voice was very deep.

"Why, I am Talpa." Cye shrugged. He had no idea who this "Talpa" Person was.

"What do you want with me?" He finally asked.

"To exchange you for money." Cye was confused.

"Why am I worth money?" He asked again.

" Because you have lived your life in an un-human manner." Cye shrugged.

"I do not understand. Why doesn't that make me worth money?" 

"Because people want to know how you survived the life in the wild." Cye laughed out loud.

"I lived with my mother silly! She took care of me since I was a child!" The man said nothing. This child understood not of what the real world was. Money drive, un-caring fools. And he himself was one of them, which was why he had this boy in his clutches.

"You don't understand this world. But don't worry. I bet that someone will tell you, wherever you wind up." He laughed. Cye glowered at the elder man. Or whatever he was. Cye couldn't see the speaker anyways.

"Who are you giving me to anyways?" Talpa shrugged.

"The highest bidder, whoever was asking to find you, whichever one is more profitable. I have sent the Warlord out to get the other two already." 

"Other two?" Cye asked, his voice merely a whisper.

"Yes. One boy was raised by a tiger, the other by a pack of wolves. They are all priced as you are. But I have heard that one has been found already. At the hospital. So I sent them to go get him. Steal him." Cye looked on in surprise.

"Steal him? But didn't the other people find him first?" Deep laughter filled the room once more.

"So naive and innocent. This is life. You do what you must to get by."

"But doesn't the boy that you are trying to get have a say in how he is treated?"

"Of course not! He is an object worth a pretty penny."

"Pretty penny? But I thought he was worth a lot?" Cye questioned as Talpa sighed.

"You really are becoming a nuisance. I do not feel like listening to you any more. Good night, child." Cye felt something prick his arms, as he fell limply to the ground.

~*~*~*~

Ryo watched Sage sleep. It was his turn to watch over the blonde, and the doctors permitted it after Mia's begging finally got on their nerves. He felt sorry for the boy. He himself had been taken from his home as well, but he still had White Blaze. They had taken Sage away from the creatures he was raised by, and taken him to an entirely new area.

"Mother… Acrian…. Kiarei…" Ryo watched the sleeping figure in confusion. He shrugged, must have been Sage's mother and the pups. 

"I'm sorry…." The boy stated in his sleep, twisting slightly. Ryo watched in concern. Sage was turning towards his hurt side. If he moved just a bit more, he would crush his injured arm under himself.

"Ok sir, I will respect your wishes…." Ryo ignored the boy's words, and instead watched to make sure that Sage didn't hurt himself.

"Please…. Domingo… don't… I'm sorry..." Sage cried out suddenly, as he jerked up in his sleep, tearing at his injured arm.

"Sage!" Ryo exclaimed as he reached out to help the blonde. Sage panted slightly, but pulled away from the touch, clutching his arm to his chest.

"What happened? Are you OK?" Sage turned his face away from the other boy.

"Sage, look at me." With an annoyed sigh and roll of his eyes, the blonde obeyed.

"You were freaking in your sleep. Who's Domingo?" Sage growled at Ryo.

"Be quiet. I do not wish to speak of him."

"Was he the one who hurt you?" Sage's eyes flashed.

"Stop asking questions. Don't you have something better to do with your time?" Ryo shook his head.

"Actually, no. It's my turn to watch you. Mia should be coming in a few minutes. Then I will have something to do, which is sleep. But while we're waiting for her to come, why don't you start telling me about this Domingo guy." Sage sighed. He was tired, and was pretty sure that this boy was very much like the skinny blue haired one. Obnoxious and persistent.

"My father, ok?" Sage stated with annoyance, as he lie back down.

"Did he hurt you? What did you do to get him mad?"

"I thought that I was supposed to be resting. But with you pestering me, I doubt that I can." Ryo rolled his eyes.

"Nice excuse. Just answer the question."

"If you must know, you ungrateful human, yes he did, and he did because I ran away from a bit without his permission. And that is because I could sense that YOU and your little friends were nearby." Ryo looked on in shock.

"You can sense us too?" Sage sighed and nodded.

"Yes, now do me a favor and shut up." Sage muttered as he rolled to the side away from Ryo. The black haired boy sighed as he stood up and walked to the door, at the exact moment that Mia walked up.

"Is he behaving?" Mia asked with a grin as Ryo sighed.

"Hardly." He muttered as he walked out of the room.

To be continued… 

Now Gradual, no reason to get upset. There are plenty of times that Sage is alone with Ryo later. /*****Grins*/ Teasing Sage just doesn't seem like a Ryo thing. He's too nice and sweet. ROWEN on the other hand, /*sweat drop*/ Heh heh heh…. Well, anyways, no the work on the next chapter of this, and then the Mage's Tale! Bye bye!


	8. The Others

The Others- Chapter 8

"So, you mean to tell us that all we have to do is sneak into the hospital, and he'll be right there? Then we just take him and leave?" Kayura nodded.

"Yes Cale, now that you have figured that out, you and Sekhmet get on your merry little way. Dais and I will go to the mountains and try to find that other boy." Cale and Sekhmet nodded. Slowly, they made their way to the hospital that held the boy.

"This is far to easy, don't you agree Cale?" The boy nodded.

"I wonder if there is anyone with him right now." Cale pondered out loud as Sekhmet shrugged.

"Possibly. But we won't know till we find out." Cale nodded slowly. He hoped that Dais was having a fun time with the Amazon. Finally they arrived at the building, and identified the room that the boy was hiding in.

"Well, lets go then."

~*~*~*~

Sage jerked awake at the sound of the window opening, and watched as two men entered. Mia turned to them and glared.

"I should have known that you guys would pull a stunt like this as soon as you found out that we had one of them." Cale smiled.

"It's a pleasure to see you too Mia. Now be a dear, give us the boy and make this easier for you and us." Mia said nothing, but rose to her feet.

"Hell no! He is hurt, and I know that the last thing you freaks would do is take care of him." Sage watched the situation unravel before his eyes, keeping a close eye on the green haired man that was approaching him.

"Oh, now Mia dear, do you really thing that badly of us?" Mia rolled her eyes.

"Actually, I think worse." She smiled sweetly as she turned to look at Sekhmet.

"Don't you dare go near him." She warned. Sekhmet ignored her warning, nothing that she was too far away to do anything, as he reached for the blonde.

"Don't. Touch. Me." Sage stated as he clamped his jaw down on the other man. Sekhmet cried out in pain as Sage leapt to his feet, arm held tightly to his chest.

"Are you pathetic humans after me too?" Cale stifled his laughter as he watched Sekhmet clutch his finger with wide, beady eyes.

"Well, who isn't?" Cale asked at the boy who was crouching on the ground.

"Fools. I don't want to be near your kind. When will your incompetent minds finally comprehend this tiny sliver of information?" Cale was shocked at the way this primitive boy spoke. He spoke in a clear intellectual tongue. Obviously he'd been doing his research.

"Well, I'm very sorry to break it to you, but no one really cares what you want. All we care about is the money that we'll get from having you."

"Do you want me to bite you too?" Sage warned as Cale laughed.

"Actually, that does sound quite good." Mia shuddered.

"Pervert." She muttered as Cale grinned towards her.

"And proud of it."

"Leave. I don't care that you want me. Just leave." Sekhmet slowly snuck up behind the blonde, preparing to grab him. The moment Sekhmet made his move, Sage reached out without looking, and gripped the snake-boys arm, twisting it backwards.

"I don't think so." Mia grinned. Sage was actually quite good at this. The blonde released Sekhmet, who took a step back.

"Why, wolf boy, you look so tired. Do you need some rest?" Cale teased as the blonde's fury grew.

"Cale, duh, he's hurt and sick, and has a high fever. He's going to get tired easily." Mia pointed out as Cale grinned.

"Thank you Mia, for pointing that out. Then all I have to do is wear him out." Mia's eyes widened. That was a mistake. She watched as Cale stepped towards Sage, and tried to stop him by grabbing him, but he was much stronger and easily flung her against the wall. She swore that little stars were twinkling around her head.

"Mia!" Sage exclaimed as Cale leapt for him. Sage tried to get out of the way, but the fever took over and he was knocked dizzily to the floor. Sekhmet grinned and walked over to Mia.

"Well, this little poison ought to put you to sleep for a bit, Nighty night." Mia passed out against the wall.

"Are you finally going to just give in boy?" Cale asked, pinning Sage to the ground with his full weight.

"Get off." Sage pleaded, tears swelling up in his eyes and threatening to overflow.

"Aww, is the little boy scared of being taken?" Sage's face was twisted in a grimace, even after Cale was sent flying off of him.

"Warlords. I should have known that us having this guy would get out." Rowen shook his head.

"What a way to start out my night shift." Rowen knelt next to Sage.

"You ok?" He asked softly as a single tear trickled down Sage's face. It was then it finally struck Rowen what had happened.

"Shit! You idiots! His arm is infected, and filled with over 100 stitches, and then you sit on it? Fools!" Rowen yelled, pointing to the window.

"Leave before I kill you." Cale and Sekhmet sighed, but obliged, as they disappeared from where they had come.

"Shit, are you ok?" Sage said nothing, as Rowen looked over at Mia. Rowen shook his head.

"Sekhmet has way too much fun with his poisons." Rowen then focused his attention back on the blonde.

"Ok, Sage, I know you hate me, but you're going to have to cooperate with me. I have to get you on the bed, ok?" Sage said nothing, but allowed Rowen to lift him up and carry him over to the bed.

"Ok, did he rip any of the stitches?" Rowen got the answer to his question in the form of blood seeping through Sage's bandages.

"Shit, shit, shit." Rowen repeated as he took Sage's arm into his hands. The blond cried out in pain at the movement and Rowen winced at the damage that had been dealt.

"Ok, stay here, I'll be back in a second." Sage shook his head.

"Stay. They aren't really gone. They're still…. outside." Rowen sighed.

"How can you tell?" He asked as Sage sighed, the blood flow getting worse and drenching the cloth.

"Just like I could tell that you were a human that was after me. They're out there." Rowen sighed.

"But you need the medical attention. You already have lost a lot of blood." Sage shook his head once more.

"I'll be fine." Rowen slowly nodded, complying too the boy's request. Finally he remembered that there was a button on the bed that called in the nurse. Quickly he pressed it, and waited for assistance. Finally, a very ragged and tired doctor walked into the room.

"What is it?" The man demanded as he noticed Sage's wounds.

"Oh my god! What happened to you?" Sage said nothing, and Rowen took the liberty of answering the question.

"He knocked it in his sleep." The doctor sighed.

"I'll have to have that taken care of. You need to take care of yourself young man. And please, do stop crying. You are a grown man." Sage glared up at the doctor.

"I am 14 years old sir." The surprise on the man's face was almost humorous.

"But in the medical reports it said that you were 18!" Rowen fielded the question.

"Sir, we found him in the forest, injured. We didn't know his age, so we guessed by his looks. Apparently we were very wrong." The doctor nodded.

"That you were." The doctor murmured as he walked over to Sage.

"What about her?" The man asked as Rowen sighed.

"She fell asleep like that. She's a weird girl." The doctor nodded in agreement to that. He then pulled out a needle.

"I will have to sedate him so that I can re-do the stitches." Rowen looked at Sage and was very amused at the boy's expression.

"What is that?" Sage demanded, pointing to the needle. The doctor smiled.

"Why don't I show you how it works? Well, you do this." The doctor jammed it in the unsuspecting boy's arm as Sage fell into immediate unconsciousness.

"Wasn't that a little cruel?" Rowen asked as the doctor shrugged.

"Was he really going to let me do it if he knew what it did?" Rowen nodded.

"True, very true. Now, I personally don't want to watch, so I'll just sit in this nice little corner of the room." Rowen stood up and walked over to the chair, turning away from the doctor and the blonde. This just wasn't his day.

To be continued….


	9. The Others

The Others- Chapter 9

"Why can't one of you just stay in the room the entire time? I'm tired of waking up and someone different being in my room." Ryo shrugged.

"I have no clue. It must be because none of us want to stay in a room with you." Ryo joked with a grin, and in return got a scowl from the blonde boy.

"Don't you ever smile?" Ryo asked as Sage sighed in annoyance.

"I do around the pups, but if memory serves me correctly, you took me away from them." Sage smiled bitterly as Ryo groaned.

"I'm sorry, but you needed the help. If we hadn't taken you, you'd be dead right now."

"I doubt that I'd be…" Ryo cut the boy off with his finger.

"You had a fever of 104.6, and just now is it lowering. 106 means that you are dead. You were very close to being dead, got it?" Sage said nothing as Ryo sat on the edge of the bed.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that they take you back after you're better. And I'll make sure that those men don't take you. I'm just lucky that they don't know who I am."

"And what is it that makes you so important?" Sage asked as Ryo smiled.

"For the same reason you are. I lived in the mountains since I was 5 with my tiger, White Blaze." Sage's eyes widened. 

"You…. You lived with animals as well?" Ryo grinned.

"Yeah. But the difference is that I still have my tiger. Kento took Blaze, the tiger, back to his place." Sage allowed a faint smile to form on his lips.

"It's good that you still have someone. Same can't be said of me." Sage hung his head, until the feel of a gentle hand rested on his thigh. 

"Don't worry, we're here for you." Sage laughed at the idea.

"That's a riot. The blue haired boy annoys the hell out of me, the woman pesters me about my health constantly, the other man doesn't like me because I'm not a clean freak like he is, and if I thought that my eating habits were bad because I was raised by animals, I am easily beaten by that other man!" Sage took a deep breath.

"Plus, that other man who came into my room last night with the blue hair didn't seem to mind that I was willing to bite him, and the other one poisoned the girl, and the idiot sat on my stitches, and…. And…" Sage took a deep breath. Ryo patted the boy's thing once more.

"Yeah, its hard. I know how you feel, sans that fact that you have people after you because they know who you are, and the fact that you are severely hurt, yeah, we're pretty much even on how we're facing things. And I have my cat, and, Jeesh, I'm sorry. We really did screw you over, didn't we?" Sage nodded slightly, his lower lip trembling. He didn't want to cry. Being weak got you nowhere where he came from. But he missed his mother, and the pups, and his life, even with Domingo. 

"Sage, you want to cry. Don't you?" Sage nodded feebly.

"But I won't. I shouldn't. I can't bring myself to." Ryo sighed.

"Sage, cry. You're life is ruined. I think you have every right." Sage nodded softly and hung his head. If he was going to cry, at least he was going to hide it to the best of his ability. Ryo couldn't help but pity the boy. It was then he decided that the least he could do is do what had been done to him all his life. Slowly he wrapped his arms around Sage and pulled the boy close, keeping an eye on the injury to make sure that he wouldn't upset it, and rubbing gentle circles along the boy's back. Sage allowed his head to rest on Ryo's shoulder. It wasn't exactly like holding his mother when he was sad, or hurt, since the wolves and human's body structures were so different, but none the less, it was a comfort.

"Aren't they so cute?" Mia stated from the door, as Rowen rolled his eyes.

"Do they even realize that they are flirting?" Mia glared at him.

"They are not flirting! They are comforting each other." Rowen rolled his eyes.

"You call it what you want, I'll call it what I want." Mia stared at him for a moment, before looking back at the two boys on the bed. She couldn't help but think of how cute they were. It was then that the doctor stepped in the room.

"Ok Sage, time for your medication." The blonde boy glared up at the needle through tear-filled eyes, as he pulled closer to Ryo. He knew exactly what that pointy demon of hell did.

"I don't want that thing near me." Sage stated with a steady voice.

"You need medicine. You need painkillers."

"Don't they have chewable tablets or something like that?" Rowen asked as the doctor sighed.

"No we do not. Little children just get the shot." Rowen shrugged.

"Yeah, but little children can't kick your ass." Mia shot a warning glance to Rowen who shut up. 

"Sage, I know that it hurts, but after you get that needle your arm won't hurt anymore." Sage gave an untrustworthy look at the doctor, but obligingly gave the doctor his arm, Ryo's words having had an effect on him. He winced as the needle entered his arm, but said nothing. Finally, the doctor removed the thin metal object from the boy's arm.

"See? That isn't so bad, now was it?" Sage glared at the scientist.

"It was, but I'll manage." He stated with much fierceness in his voice. The doctor sighed as he began to exit the room.

"Well, Rowen, Ryo, Sage, I'm going to the library. Anyone want to come? Except you Sage, you have to stay here and rest."

"I will!" Ryo exclaimed. It had been years since he had been in a library.

"Me too." Rowen stated as Sage looked on in confusion.

"What is a "Library"?" He asked as Mia shook her head. She had forgotten that Sage knew nothing about the rea world.

"A library is a place where you can borrow books from."

"Books?" She sighed.

"The things you read." Again Sage shook his head in confusion.

"What is "read"?" Rowen nearly fell on the floor.

"We'll explain it to you later. I'll go get Kento and Anubis to watch you until we get back." Sage nodded, still trying to figure out what these "books" and "reads" were. He felt Ryo let go of him and stand up, walking over to Mia.

"We'll be back in a little Sage." Ryo stated as the three people left to go get Kento and Anubis. What Anubis and Kento didn't expect was to, when they entered the room, not find Sage there at all.

~*~*~*~

"You two screwed up? All you had to do was get an injured guy from a hospital, and you can't even do that? What am I going to do with you?" Sekhmet and Cale shrugged. With an annoyed sigh, Kayura turned to Dais.

"Well then, I guess it is up to you and me." Dais nodded. Kayura took his hand, as she led them out of their hideout.

~*~*~*~

Sage was tired. Obviously the painkillers did more then kill the pain, they made him feel tired and instantly wish to fall asleep. But Anubis and Kento had yet to arrive, and he wanted to stay awake till he knew that it was safe to fall asleep. But when 2 people entered through his window, he knew that all was not right, and he was alone. His eyes shot open, his vision blurry. 

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice tired and weak, showing none of the vigor he had the day before against the other men.

"Oh my gosh! They couldn't get HIM? He's half dead. How could they not have gotten him?" Dais shrugged to Kayura.

"No clue. But you know what idiots they can be, especially when they are left together." Kayura nodded as she walked over to Sage.

"Aww, poor baby. You look so sad and hurt." She smiled at him as he turned his head away.

"Go away." He muttered as she laughed and turned to Dais.

"Aww, he wants us to go away. Should we?" Dais grinned.

"Nah." She smiled and nodded.

"Look at his pretty gold hair. Isn't it pretty Dais?" She asked with a grin.

"Stop mocking me." Sage stated firmly, only getting another round of laughs in reply.

"Well little boy, why don't you go to sleep, and when you wake up you can be given to the person that wants you."

"No. I'm staying here. With Ryo, and Mia, and…" He shuddered. "Rowen." Kayura sighed.

"No. You are coming with us." She reached for him.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." Sage warned but Kayura ignored him and reached out to grab him. With what was left of his strength, he clamped his teeth down on her hand as she screamed in pain.

"You little freak!" She shrieked. Dais looked on in hatred. No one hurt Kayura. He wouldn't allow it. Yet this boy had. With anger, he slammed a small vase full of flowers over the boy's head, and watched as it shattered, and they boy fell into immediate unconsciousness. 

To be continued…

A/N: Writers block is not my friend. As soon as I finished "The Mage's Tale" I had trouble writing this one. Oh well, I can try. I can force myself to write if I try hard enough. So now, on to the next chapter! Ja ne!


	10. The Others

The Others

Chapter 10

When Sage awoke, his head was throbbing with an unknown pain. Finally, after the pain subsided enough, he brought himself to open his eyes and survey his surroundings. He was in a small, rather barren room, and he had guessed that they had taken all furniture out for fear that he would use something as a weapon.

"Are you ok?" A soft voice asked as Sage jerked to face the sound.

"Who are you?" He demanded as he felt a hand on his arm.

"That doesn't look to good. Mum always told me that if I have a cut, to cleanse it with salt water." Sage yanked his hand away from the other boy.

"Who are you?" Sage repeated as he heard the other boy laugh.

"I'm Cye Mouri, and you would be?" Sage sighed.

"Sage."

"Last name?" Sage shrugged.

"I don't have one." Cye nodded.

"Well I didn't either, but Ocrana said that when I was abandoned by my parents when I was 4, their ship was the "S.S. Mouri" So she named me after that. Cye she came up with." Sage nodded.

"Who's Ocrana?"

"Mum of course! She's a whale!" He laughed cheerfully as Sage's jaw hung.

"What is this? I was raised by wolves, Ryo was raised by a tiger, and now you were raised by a whale! What is the world coming too…."? Cye shrugged.

"Wait! You were raised by wolves?" Sage nodded.

"Yes." 

"Now it makes sense. I was wondering why they had taken you." Sage nodded.

"And I presume that you were taken for the same reason?" Cye nodded.

"They said I am worth money? Why are we worth money?" Sage shrugged.

"I think for research."

"What kind of research?" Again Sage shrugged.

"I don't know." Cye sighed as he sat next to the other boy. Sage shifted slightly, so that he was facing the other boy, and to make sure that his arm didn't get crushed between his body and the wall.

"What did you do to yourself? That doesn't look to good." Cye pointed out to Sage's arm. Sage simply shrugged in response.

"My wolf father scratched me." Cye's eyes widened.

"Well that is not very nice!" Cye pointed out.

"If he is your father then he shouldn't hurt you. I on the other hand don't have a father."

"No loss there." Sage muttered as Cye smiled.

"I can sense that there is tension between you." He grinned at the blonde.

"No duh." Sage pointed out as Cye glared at him.

"I am just trying to lighten the mood." Sage didn't mean to snip at the other boy, but not only was he raised to be testy, he was also just getting used to this society and was not at all exited when he was taken from his life, AGAIN.

"Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just… annoyed." Cye nodded.

"I've been here for a few days. They're not too bad, I suppose. Sometimes they hit you, but usually they're gone and they simply leave you in a room."

"Well that's such a reassurance." Sage stated with a roll of his eyes. 

"Well, they should be here soon. They wanted to get all three of us before they give us too… whoever it is that wants us." Sage's eyes widened.

"They better not touch Ryo, or I'll be biting more then just their fingers." Cye burst out laughing.

"You bit them?" Sage nodded slightly.

"They were asking for it!" Cye continued to laugh.

"Who is Ryo?" Cye finally asked.

"He is one that is raised by a tiger." Sage stated softly, envisioning the raven-haired boy with the tiger blue eyes and well built body.

"A tiger? And he wasn't eaten? Wow!" Sage laughed.

"His tiger is nice I am told. Its name is White Blaze." Cye nodded.

"That is so cool! I wish I could meet him and the tiger." Sage nodded.

"They were going to a "library" When I was take. What is read?" Cye thought for a moment of a good explanation. He had been reading simple children's books when he was abandoned, so he had the gist of how to read. It seemed that Sage was not as fortunate.

"You were raised by wolves, correct?" Sage's head bobbed up and down.

"How old were you when you were abandoned?" Sage shrugged.

"My mother told me since infancy. I have never seen another human till I ran into Ryo. I now regret jumping and snapping at him."

"Don't tell me that you bit him too." Sage glared at the other boy who winced at the violet intensity within the orbs.

"I did not! I have only bitten Rowen, for being an idiot, Sekhmet for also being an idiot, and Kayura for trying to touch me."

"Who is Rowen?" Cye asked in curiosity as Sage groaned.

"The most annoying boy on the planet! He was with Ryo when they came and took me from the cave that I have lived in all my life."

"They took you from your cave?" Sage nodded.

"I was dying. The infection grew and spread to my entire arm. I got feverish and I was in and out of consciousness. So they came and took me to the hospital to keep me from dying. I am thankful, but they at least could have asked and told me everything they were going to do. And warned me about the evil needles!" Cye had to stifle his laughter.

"I am sorry about your injury. Why did your father hurt you anyways?" Sage shrugged.

"I went out when he told me to stay." Cye tsked.

"Now you shouldn't have disobeyed." Sage glared at him.

"I always disobey." Cye smiled.

"I can tell."

"Hey!" Cye laughed softly.

"Well, you look really tired, and it seems to me that you are not fully recovered. I think that it would be in your best interest if you were to take to rest." Sage nodded slightly.

'"I don't want to, but I see where you are coming from. Good night, Cye." Cye nodded as he watched the other boy curl up into a tight ball, sans his hurt arm which is had sprawled out to his side, and easily fall into sleep.

~*~*~*~

"You lost him!?" Ryo growled, anger in his eyes and his voice.

"We tell you to watch after him for the total of about an hour, and you lose him? What the hell are we going to do with you two?" Anubis and Kento both pulled away.

"Well, if the vending machine would have accepted my dollar, then we wouldn't have had to go get change, and then come back, and…"

"Kento, this is not the vending machines fault." Rowen raised his hand.

"Actually, the vending machine is…."

"Don't get me started!" Ryo yelled as Rowen cowered and hid behind Mia.

"Well, as my mother used to say, "There's no use crying over spilt milk". And I agree. I say we go find the warlords, and get him back!" Mia exclaimed as Anubis smiled in a thank you.

"I agree. We're sorry for our dim-wittedness, but the only thing we can go do now is go retrieve him. Any complaints?" No one said anything.

"Well, then lets rock!" The group grinned as they followed Anubis's lead and ran out of the hospital.

~*~*~*~

Sekhmet was annoyed, to say the least. Dais and Kayura were well aware of his sexual preference, and they both were well aware that he had his eye on the blue-haired man that he worked with. And though he had been making progress with Cale in getting the other man to come closer to Sekhmet, the moment they had captured the blonde boy, everything had abruptly changed. Cale was now fawning over the poor blonde, using his breaks to go pester their "Guest". And Sekhmet was not at all pleased. 

Slowly the green-haired man padded down the hallway towards the prisoners to see if Cale was once again there. He gently opened the door and sighed at the sight. The blonde boy was cowering against his companion, looking utterly miserable, as Cale stood grinning, obviously harassing the boy with words.

"So, you like to bite people? I wouldn't mind you biting me a few times." Sekhmet sighed as he eavesdropped on the object of his affection.

"I don't want to bite you." Sage stated, annoyance in his voice.

"Are you sure? Because I would very much enjoy that." Sage cowered against Cye even more.

"I am sure. Now go away and leave me alone!" Cye pulled the blonde too him protectively.

"When someone is annoyed by you, that is your cue to leave! And Sage is not enjoying your words, so would you mind leaving?"Cale laughed at the auburn boy's words.

"Cale, I think that you should leave him alone. He's already traumatized enough by you, I think you've had your fun." Cale looked up as his eye's met Sekhmet's beady black ones.

"But I want to stay here." Cale stated as Sekhmet sighed. He walked over to the other boy, and grabbed his arm.

"Come on." Sekhmet then proceeded to drag the cursing Cale out of the room.

"Bye love!" Cale called out to Sage as he was dragged out of the room. Sage groaned the moment that the duo left.

"Why me?" He muttered as Cye stroked Sage's hair.

To be continued…

It's been so long since I worked on this thing! Go me! (Well, it's been long for me anyways) I've been working on the sequel to "The Mage's Tale" So I've been keeping busy. Well, I'll try to work on this one more! I swear! Well, bye bye! Hope ya enjoyed! 


	11. The Others

The Others

Chapter 11

"Ok, so this is the warlords hide out? You'd think with all the money that they're going to get for having Sage, they could at least buy a better looking place." Mia muttered. Rowen smiled in response to her words, but for once said nothing. Even he felt sorry for the wolf boy. He had to admit, though they didn't like each other, it wasn't the boy's fault he was taken from his home in the wilderness, and captured by insane beings.

"Ok, here's the deal. Ryo is not to be left alone, in case they figure out who he is. So Ryo, you go with Kento." Both boys nodded.

"I want you two to go around to the back entrance. I'll go with Rowen, Anubis, can you handle yourself?" Anubis snuffed.

" Of course I can! Who do you take me for, Rowen?"

"Hey!" Rowen exclaimed, sticking his tongue out at the other man.

"I could go on my own too, but I wouldn't dare leave a woman alone to fend for herself."

"I am not just a woman thank you very much! I can take care of myself!" All of the men rolled their eyes at her words.

"What! I could!" She immediately stuck her tongue out at the men.

"Well, as fun as it is to tease Mia, I think that we better go get Sage." Ryo pointed out.

"Who knows what they are doing to him." With grins of knowing that Ryo liked Sage, the others nodded in agreement.

"Fine, we can do that. Come on, let us be going now." Mia exclaimed as each went off into their respective areas.

~*~*~*~

"Cale, just leave the boy alone! He has done nothing to earn your advances and catcalls, so leave him be!" Cale rolled his eyes at the other boy.

"Is someone jealous?" He asked with a grin, as Sekhmet turned red.

"NO! That's not it! I just don't think that you should be doing that is all." Sekhmet stated as Cale grinned knowingly. 

"You are so jealous!" 

"I am not!"

"Keep it down in there!" Dais called from his room.

"Me and Kayura are trying to talk!"

"So, he finally getting somewhere with her?" Sekhmet asked as Cale laughed.

"Nah." Sekhmet rolled his beady black eyes at the other boy, as Cale stood up.

"Well, I really must be going, I have a wolf boy to annoy, err, hit on." Sekhmet groaned as he watched Cale leave the room.

"When will that man learn?" He muttered to himself as he set off to get Cale away from Sage. 

~*~*~*~

"OK Mia, got any ideas to where we should go?" Mia shrugged as she and Rowen walked through a hallway, backs pressed against the wall in hopes of concealing themselves from sight.

"Well, Sage has to be around here somewhere." She pointed out as Rowen nodded.

"I agree, but the question is where?" Mia glanced at Rowen in confusion, as they heard loud voices arguing and a soft voice sobbing quietly.

"Let's go check it out." Mia stated as Rowen nodded in agreement. The two then proceeded to run off in the direction of the voices.

~*~*~*~

Ryo had heard the crying of the blonde that he cared so deeply for in his mind. How, he didn't know, but for some reason he knew where the boy was. And that was why he and Kento were running down the corridors at top speed. Ryo slid as he tried to halt in front of the door, which was slightly open. He skidded for a moment until Kento grabbed him to stop him.

"Now, if you are going to find Sage, you really must stop slipping up."

"Nice pun." Ryo stated without amusement. Ignoring the other boy, he turned to peer into the crack, and saw Sage, in the arms of another man, cowering from something that Ryo couldn't see due to the fact that the door was not open enough. Sage was in the arms of another man, and crying, his injured arm limp at his side. Ryo didn't like this. He didn't like this one bit. It was then he charged headlong into the room.

~*~*~*~

Sage was once again pressed against Cye, who stroked the blonde's hair in a motherly gesture. To Sage, it was nice to have a motherly figure, but the fact that the blue-haired man had touched him while he was sleeping was not amusing. And that was why the green haired man was scolding the other that that moment. Sage thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that blue-haired people are not his friends.

"Cale, I told you not to touch him! And what did you do? You felt him up, while he was sleeping none the less!" Cale smiled and looked at the blonde again.

"He is very well-built for someone so young."

"I didn't need to know that." Sekhmet replied flatly. It was then, to the shock of all the occupants of the room, a young, black haired boy came bolting into the room.

"Sage!" He cried out as he ran over to the blonde, along with the boy Ryo didn't know. With a sigh, Kento followed the boy filled with a little too much into the room.

"Ryo!" Sage exclaimed as he leapt to his feet, glaring at the shocked Cale and bemused Sekhmet.

"Ryo! We have to get out and this is Cye and he was raised by a whale and…" Ryo covered the boy's mouth. He had never seen Sage happier, or rather, more excited. Kento was rather shocked at the idea that Sekhmet was stopping Cale from doing anything, but at the moment, getting Sage and the other boy out was top priority. 

"Ryo, get Sage. Cye, if I got your name correct, come with me." At that exact moment, Mia and Rowen made their entrance.

"Hey! Kento! Guess what we just saw?" Rowen exclaimed with a grin.

"What?"

"Miss Kayura and Dais kissing." Kento grinned, and even Sekhmet and Cale let smiles grace their lips.

"So, Dais finally worked his charm, in a good way that is." Cale stated as Sekhmet shrugged.

"Guess so."

"Umm… Wait a second. Aren't we supposed to be trying to kill each other right now?" Cale pointed out.

"Oh yeah!" The others exclaimed. Sage and Ryo glanced at each other, nodded, and then bolted out of the room together.

"Hmm…. That's a good idea." Rowen stated.

"Well, bye warlords!" Without another word, the rest of their group, including Cye, bolted out of the room.

"Well, we just screwed up." Cale stated.

"We are in deep shit…" Sekhmet concluded, hanging his head and awaiting the punishment they'd receive from Talpa.

To be continued…

So long since I've worked on this… I just have so many stories that it's not even funny. I think I'm up to 20 typed ones, not the ones that I am hand writing. And ALL of them are chaptered ones. **/***Sigh*/ Well, I hope you liked the chapter! Bye bye for now!


	12. The Others

The Others- Chapter 12

"Put them in a bath together? Rowen, you come up with the craziest ideas!" Mia exclaimed as Rowen shrugged.

"Well, they're both cat-like, and they both hate water. They like each other, and they both need showers. I don't see why not!"

"They're two 14 year old boys! If that's not enough reason, I don't know what is!" Rowen shrugged.

"Mia, oh well. They are fourteen, yet they have the minds of five year olds that have raging hormones. Unlike Cye, they hate baths. I think that like a toddler, if you put one in, the other will follow. Well, in this case they would have to be put in at the same time, but at least they'd get in the water." 

"Rowen?" A tired voice asked as Rowen turned to the doorway to see both Sage and Cye.

"Yeah guys?" Rowen asked as Sage yawned.

"We can't sleep."

"Read to us." Cye finished. Though Cye knew the basics, he was up to the "See Spot Run" books, Sage, having never been near humans in his life, was completely illiterate. Rowen sighed as Mia grinned.

"Well, Rowen, you know that reading to our boys is more important then our conversation." Rowen turned to the other boys.

"Why don't you two have Ryo read to you?" Ryo was the best reader among the wildlife boys (as Rowen dubbed them) and he tended to read things such as fairy tales to Sage, and sometimes Cye as well. 

"He already fell asleep." Cye stated.

"And we couldn't take waking him up. So then we thought of you!" Sage said.

"Well, actually, we thought of Kento first. But he was eating, so we chose not to bother him."

"And then we thought of you." Sage finished as Cye nodded in agreement.

"Ok, come on boys. Which do you want me to read today?" Cye thought for a moment, before beaming.

"Rainbow Fish!" Rowen shook his head. 

"OK Cye, you go get the book, Sage, you come with me. And then I'll read to you both." Sage nodded as they watched Cye run out of the room.

"Come on, wolf-boy." Rowen stated as Sage walked after Rowen, to Mia's amusement.

~*~*~*~

"…The end." Rowen finished as in his best efforts he tried to untangle himself from Sage and Cye's sleeping forms. Ryo was in the bed as well, but he had been asleep before and was on the other side of Sage, so he was wrapped around Sage, not Rowen. With a slight effort, Rowen lifted Cye into his arms and carried the boy out of Ryo's and into his Cye's room. He was well aware that leaving Sage in Ryo's arms was perfectly acceptable, and that the black haired boy would do nothing to Rowen for leaving another person in his bed. He laid the other boy down, who soundly slept the entire time. Obviously, Cye was a heavy sleeper. With a sigh, he made his way to his own room. 

~*~*~*~

"Mall? What's a mall?" Sage asked curiously as Cye and Ryo looked up, eyes twinkling in the same question.

"Well…" Mia began. "A Mall is a place that has a bunch of places where you can buy clothes, toys, food, ect. As long as you have money that is. And we really are stripped for cash, but you guys really need clothes, you can keep taking Rowen's because Sage is too thin, the pants don't fit, Cye is to much shorter, it's like he's a gangster with how baggy those things are, and Ryo, well, OK, Ryo fits in them fine. But Rowen doesn't have enough clothes to spare. And he's the only one with clothes even close to your sizes. So, come on everyone, it's off to the mall for us." The three animal raised boys shrugged, still not exactly sure what a mall was, but not pressing the issue and deciding to wait to find out what the creation was. 

The car ride was an interesting affair. Sage kept trying to stick his head out of the window like a dog, instincts guiding his reaction to the car. Ryo was finding that buttons were fun to play with, and no matter how hard Anubis tried to stop him, he was faster then the older man, and Anubis had to keep both hands on the wheel, being the perfectionist that he was. And Cye was trying to figure out how to un-buckle the restraining thing that held him down. Finally, to the relief of the others in the car, they arrived at the mall, to the shock and amusement of the three boys.

"WOW!" Were the first words out of the auburn boy's mouth as he stared in shock and tried to take in every thing at once.

"This is amazing!" Ryo exclaimed after Cye, as Sage merely nodded in agreement. Rowen watching in amusement as the Cye and Ryo dashed off towards the food, Ryo's hand wrapped tightly around Sage's as he dragged the other boy with him.

"Ok, Mi and Anubis, watch Cye. Kento and I'll go make sure Ryo doesn't somehow kill Sage in his excitement." Mia laughed as she and Anubis headed after Cye.

"Well, come on big guy, let's go follow the flirts!"

"Ro, they do not flirt!"

"As I said to Mia, you call them what you want, I'll call them what I want. Which is flirts." Kento sighed as they ran off to find the other two.

~*~*~*~

"Wow! Sage! Look at this!" Ryo said, manhandling a puzzle box while parading around a toy store. Ryo kept tugging at the box, while Sage laughed. The laughter abruptly stopped though, when Ryo accidentally ripped the box in half, scattering puzzle pieces everywhere. Sage looked at Ryo with horrified eyes as Ryo shrugged and brushed the box and the pieces under one of the racks.

"Shh! Sage, don't say anything." Sage nodded, eyes still wide, as they bolted out of the store. Panting, they ran straight into Rowen and Kento, falling to the floor on impact.

"What did you two just do?" Rowen demanded as Sage glared.

"Nothing that matters to you." He swiftly rose to his feet, using his well arm to assist him, as he reached out and helped Ryo up. Ryo hung his head guiltily, as Sage sighed and pulled Ryo away from the other two.

"OK Kento, You and I are going to follow them, but we can't let them see us. We don't want them to get mad, or in trouble. Got it?" Kento nodded as he and Rowen raced after the other two.

~*~*~*~

"Look Miss Mia! It's a stuffed whale! Just like my mother!" Many nearby people turned to look at him in disgust.

"What?" he asked in confusion. "She is!" Shrugged and not understanding, he ran over to Mia an Anubis.

"Can I buy it? Please? It looks just like Ocrana, my mum!" Anubis glanced at the "Free Willy" Tag, but said nothing.

"Oh come on Anubis, I think that we can spare a few bucks to buy the boy a stuffed animal." Mia gently pried the stuffed animal from Cye's grip, and read the take.

"Good grief! 10 dollars for a stuffed whale?" Cye's eyes went wide.

"They stuffed a whale? But it doesn't feel like mum? Wait! That's because they stuffed her!" Cye burst out crying, to the amusement of the bystanders.

"Cye, calm down. This is a fake whale. Not s real one."

"Then why did you call it s a stuffed whale?" He asked as she sighed.

"It's a figure of speech." Cye nodded.

"Well, can I still have it?" Mia glanced at the small thing and sighed.

"Fine, you can have it." 

"Yay!" Cye exclaimed as he hugged Mia.

"Well, Cye, let's go to the counter and buy it." Cye skipped up to the counter with Mia and Anubis.

~*~*~*~

Rowen couldn't hide his laughter as he watched Ryo and Sage go into a toy store. A toy mouse was rolling around the floor, as Ryo froze. Sage glanced down at it and shrugged, but the same did not go for the highly feline boy. Kento joined in the laughter the moment that Roy pounced, grabbing the toy in his mouth.

"Um, Ryo, that's fake." Sage pointed out as Ryo spat the toy out of his mouth.

"What do you know, it is." It was then his head perked up as he spotted Rowen and Kento.

"You followed us!" He exclaimed as the two nodded, whipping the tears from their eyes.

"Ok, well, yeah we were. And anyways, we better be getting home." With an annoyed sigh, Ryo grabbed Sage's wrist, again, and followed the other two off. The moment they exited the store, a bouncy and energy filled Cye ran up to them, clutching the stuffed animal, Mia and Anubis in tow.

"Look Mr. Kento! It's a big whale! Just like my mum!" Kento smiled and nodded to the younger boy.

"Well, It's been a long day, I think we better head home." With nods of approval, Mia led the boys to the car.

To be continued…

Ok, I cannot apologize enough! I had a HUGE science project due (I turned it in yesterday, so I can write again), and I was working on something else for one of my friends (Shadow, I'm taking about "Love Ties"), and it was all around that I couldn't write. Plus, every time I got on, and finished checking my e-mail, my brother (Jerk!) Or Father would kick me off. Plus, my brother wouldn't let me on the computer to work on the project the entire week, so all the time I got on Tues., Wed., and Thursday, were spent typing up the stupid things (6 freaking hours!) And, well, I wanted to apologize! I did work some on "The Outcasts" So hopefully I can work on that and get the next chapter out. And my spring break is the week after next, which for me is heavy-duty writing time! Well, again sorry!


	13. A day in the life of the animal boys.......

The Others- Chapter thirteen

"That's it! This is not turning out right! We were supposed to have captured them a long time ago! We had them both, but they so easily got away! This time we'll have to get them, and keep them!" The warlords nodded to Kayura.

"But Kayura, what is your plan to capture them There are so many more of them and so few of us!" Kayura grinned wickedly.

"Come here." They formed a circle as she whispered to them. Each of them suddenly grinned and nodded in agreement to the plan.

"Does that work?" She asked as all of them nodded.

"Lets go then."

~*~*~*~

"Sage, spit out the gum!" Sage sighed and rolled his eyes as he spit out the gum he had been chewing on.

"Cye, get the stuffed animal out of the bathtub! I know it looks like a whale, but it isn't meant to be put underwater! It's not good for the fabric!" Mia tried to take the stuffed animal, but Cye pulled it protectively to his chest and bolted. Mia sighed.

"Kento, dinner is in twenty minutes! No food!" She tore the bag of chips from his grip, as he put his hands on his hips.

"Unfair…." He murmured, but Mia's glare silenced him. Mia glanced at Ryo and groaned.

"Ryo, that is the cat's water dish, not yours! You don't drink dirty water off the floor, you drink clean water in a glass!" she reached into the cabinet and pulled out a plastic cup, filling it with water and handing it to Ryo, who was still on his hands and knee's on the floor. He set it down on the ground, next to the bowl, and then began to lap it up from there. Mia mumbled incoherently, as she walked off to see what the others were doing. She walked over to Anubis, who was busy making the dinner, with question in her eyes.

"Anubis, where's Ro?" the man shrugged.

"He went outside about fifteen minutes ago." She nodded as she made her way towards the door, and then looked back at the four in the living room. Sage sat sprawled out on a couch arms crossed, glaring at the TV screen. Kento sat on the other one, equally mad, but not as scary looking. Cye sat next to Kento, still clutching his stuffed animal to him, as they watched football. Ryo had taken his place curled in a ball at Sage's feet, and Mia could have sworn the boy was purring. White Blaze was on the floor in front of Ryo in a protective manner.

"Anubis?" She asked as the man turned from his cooking.

"Yes?"

"Can you watch the guys while I go get Rowen? You know Kento won't stop them from doing something. He's just as bad, the little sneak!" Kento grinned at Mia, giving the v-sign, as she shook her head and walked out of the house.

"Rowen?" She called out, waiting for a response.

"Hey Mia!" Surprised, she looked up and saw Rowen lying on the roof, staring at the clouds.

"I love the sky. It's really pretty. And it's so vast, there's no way of knowing the knowledge it holds."

"Rowen Hashiba! Get down from there right now! You could fall and hurt yourself!" Rowen shrugged as he stood, walking over to the gutter, and shimmying down it with ease.

"See? Wasn't that hard." He stated as Mia sighed.

"Well, dinner is almost ready, and I need you to help Kento watch the other three. Can you do that?" Rowen shrugged.

"Sure, as long as you don't leave me with Sage." Mia giggled.

"He really does hate you. He holds a good grudge." Rowen sighed.

" I know. God knows that hell will freeze over if I ever have to be alone with him, and now that he's almost fully up to speed, I shudder at the thought." Mia nodded in agreement. Sage was amazingly fast, and not just in speed, in reflexes as well. 

"That's a good point. We better look at his arm. I haven't checked on it in awhile." The two made their way into the house, to the amusing scene of Kento struggling to get a wet stuffed animal out of the back of his shirt, while Cye giggled mercilessly at what he had done.

"Cye, you know I'm going to get you for that!" Kento warned as he finally managed to get the stuffed animal out of his shirt. Cye yelped and bolted, Kento in tow. Mia and Rowen merely laughed as they took the other couch. They glanced at Sage and Ryo, Ryo rubbing his head in a possessive gesture against Sage's thigh. Mia and Rowen sighed in unison, but Sage and Rowen ignored them.

"Sorry to take him away Ryo, but we have to borrow Sage." Mia and Rowen stated as Sage merely glared, giving them a look that said, "Don't mess with my Ryo time". Mia rolled her eyes.

"We need to remove your bandage. It's been a long time." Sage sighed as he motioned for Ryo to get off him. Reluctantly, the cat-like boy did what he was told, as he sat up and off of Sage. Sage gracefully rose to his feet, as Ryo and Mia took him into the kitchen where all the bandages were. Obediently he gave Mia his arm, as she slowly un-did the bandage. She nodded as she applied slight pressure to the wound. It was healing nicely, but it still needed to be fixed up and such.

"Does it hurt still?" She asked as Sage shook his head, not paying attention to what she was doing and instead staring out into the living room. Presumably at Ryo, but Mia couldn't tell, and neither could Rowen.

"Rowen, why don't you go watch the other two, I'll finish up here." Rowen nodded as he left, ignoring Sage's sigh of relief. Mia laughed.

"You really do hate him, don't you?" She stated, tousling his hair and rubbing his head slightly. Sage sighed contently at the petting and shook his head.

"I don't hate him. He's just annoying." He stated plainly as Mia took her hand from his hair and began to re-bandage his arm.

"There you go. All done. You can go back to Ryo now." Sage smiled in satisfaction as he ran back to the living room. Mia smiled as he went back to the couch, this time curling up on Ryo's lap while holding his arm.

"Anubis, aren't they the cutest?" Anubis shrugged as Mia hit him playfully.

"Party pooper I think its sweet. Sage's never met humans before, so its fun to see how he reacts around others, and Ryo is so caring and helpful to the more oblivious Sage. I think they work perfectly together." Anubis shrugged again. Mia glanced over his shoulder, looking in curiosity at the food.

"So, Anubis, Whatcha cooking?" Anubis smiled at the topic of his cooking.

"Well, steak because Sage has been staring at the meat in the freezer for days, and I caught him about to eat it, in the package, raw. I figured it was time to give the two carnivores meat anyways." Mia smiled affectionately.

"That was nice of you. So, what else is there?"

"Well, there are mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and some watermelon. Think that's enough for everyone?" Mia nodded rapidly.

"I'd say so! Is everything done?" the man nodded.

"Then I'll go get everyone." He watched as she ran into the living room.

"Dinnertime!" she called out as Rowen, Kento, and Cye walked on for food. Mia glanced wearily at Sage and Ryo, who had yet to move.

"Ryo, what's wrong?" Ryo looked up at her.

"Sage is asleep on my lap, but I didn't want to wake him up." Mia laughed.

"Ryo, it's time to eat. I don't think he'll mind you waking him up." Ryo nodded as he slowly nudged Sage awake. The blonde's eyes slowly opened, as he smiled up at Ryo. Stretching, he rose to get off of Ryo, as he stood. Mia watched as he helped Ryo up and the two mad their way to the kitchen, Mia followed as they all took their seats at the table. Sage looked in awe as Anubis placed a steak on his plate.

"What? Is this meat?" He sniffed at it.  
"What did you do to it?" Rowen laughed.

"Its cooked Sage." Mia grinned.

"Yeah, have a bite." Sage took the meat in his hand, much to Anubis's disgust, and took a large bite.

"Wow! This taste even better then when it's raw!" Anubis stomach churned as he watched Sage down the meat in the most detestable of manners. They sat and ate, the entire group, everything perfectly fine except the small food fight that landed Mia in the bathroom, along with Cye, both covered in mashed potatoes. Sage suddenly perked up, as everyone turned to him.

"Sage, what is it?" Sage bolted over to the window, at the moment the glass exploded into tiny shards.

"Sage!" Ryo called out in fear, as he watched the warlords appear in the opening. Ryo glanced wearily at them, and then at Sage, who lie limp on the ground, covered in glass. Ryo had no way of knowing if the boy was conscious or not. Finally, anger seeped through the boy.

"You hurt my Sagey. Now you die!"

To be continued………

A/N: I know, far too long. You shouldn't have to wait this long, but I was at a loss of what to write for a long time, and then I got this idea. And I'm pretty sure I'll be writing a lot more now that I have the idea. Well, bye bye! __


	14. Oops... we lost one again.

The Others- Chapter 14

"Ok, which of you bastards is the one that broke the glass? Whoever it was is in for an ass kicking!" Anubis, Mia, Rowen, Cye, and Kento all slowly backed away from Ryo, who had flames burning in his eyes. Not one of the warlords spoke, but Cale slowly inched himself closer to Sage.

"Don't. Touch. The. Blonde." Ryo warned as Cale ignored his words. Ryo watched with angered eyes as Cale picked up the blonde into his arms.

"Eww. Blood." Cale muttered crinkling his nose at the liquid covering his hands from the boys torn flesh. Ryo's eyes flared. HIS Sage was hurt. What especially angered him was the chink of glass that had left a jagged cut across Sage's cheek. His Sage was cut. His Sage was bleeding. His Sage was unconscious and in the arms of another man. And HE would not stand for it. 

"Leave him alone. If you must have someone, then take me." Ryo stated. He knew that Mia couldn't fight, and he doubted that Anubis would be any help in that area. And personally, he didn't think that Rowen was close combat, with the fact he had seen a bow and arrow in the boy's room. Cye he knew had no chance of fighting, and Kento could do some damage, Ryo could tell. But with Sage out of it, the master fighter of them all (Ryo blamed it on the fact the boy hunted too much before), he knew they didn't stand a chance against the four armed and trained warlords. Kayura laughed. 

"Why in the hell would we want you little boy? He's one of the kids we need, not you. In fact…" Her gaze shifted to Cye, who was slowly backing against Kento, stuffed whale secure in his grip.

"Dais, get that boy too." Dais made his way towards Cye, flipping into the air and grabbing the boy.

"Get off me!" Cye exclaimed as he began beating Dais over the head with the stuffed whale. Dais let go when the hard eye of the whale slapped down against him, biting into his skin. 

"Hey! The little kids playing dirty!" Cye stuck out his tongue, hit Dais one more time for good measures, then ran and hid behind Kento.

"Kayura…" Sekhmet whispered as he eyes the black haired boy.

"Shut up Sekhmet. Get Dais back here and we're leaving." Sekhmet sighed.

"Kayura…" Sekhmet tried again.

"I said shut up."

"Damn it Kayura! There are three boys, not just too, and that black haired kid is the last one!" Kayura's eyes widened, as she looked Ryo up and down. To prove the point, Ryo whistled as Blaze came barreling into the room. Kayura gasped in horror.

"Told you." Sekhmet muttered, receiving a well-placed slap from Dais, who had managed to get back to the rest of them and away from the rampant Cye and his stuffed whale.

"Switch the two of them?" Kayura thought for a moment.

"Fine boy. Little girl, get over here."

"I am not little." Mia muttered as she walked over to Kayura. Cale handed Mia Sage, and Mia fell immediately under his weight to the ground. Sekhmet and Dais grabbed Ryo and pulled him to them.

"Come on boy. We're going to take you to a nice place where they put you back into a recreation of the habitat you came from, and watch what happens to you." Kayura allowed herself to laugh.

"Take care of Sage for me!" Ryo called out as his mouth was covered and he was dragged away, back out the window. Kento cursed. There had been nothing they could have done, it was obvious that at least one of the boys would be taken, but they never thought that Ryo would give up his cover to protect Sage.

"Umm… a little help here." Mia asked as everyone turned to look at her, noticing that she was stuck under Sage's limp body. Kento smiled slightly, as he walked over and pulled the blonde from atop of Mia. She sighed in relief as she scrambled to her feet.

"Kento put him down on the couch." She stated as Anubis's eyes widened.

"Ahh! There's going to be blood on my couch!" Anubis never expected Cye to hit him upside the head with the stuffed whale.

"He needs help. That's not very nice you know, not letting them set him down when he's hurt."

"Hitting people upside the head with a stuffed whale, that's not very nice either." Cye grinned as he ignored Anubis and skipped over to Mia and Kento, along with Rowen, who had immediately gone into doctor mode.

"Mia, go get a rag for me." Mia nodded as she dashed into the kitchen, wetting a dishrag and then running back in, hading it to Rowen. Carefully Rowen cleansed the cuts on Sage's face, arms, and legs. Rowen cursed at the fact Sage had been wearing shorts. A lot would have been stopped had he been wearing pants.

"Sage moaned as his eyes fluttered open.

"What happened?" He murmured as he looked around, wincing as he felt the wet clothe run over his face. He reached up with his fingers, feeling a wet liquid on them. He looked on in confusion and saw that his fingers were tainted with his own blood. He sighed as he looked around.

"Where's Ryo?" He finally asked as Mia gave Rowen a weary glance.

"Ummm…. Sage. They took Ryo. He exchanged himself for you." Kento stated as Sage went wide-eyed.

"They have Ryo?" He sat up and tried to scramble to his feet, but Kento and Rowen together pushed him back down.

"No Sage. You're really cut up. We have to stop the bleeding before you can do anything." Sage sighed as he rose anyways.

"Ryo is in trouble. It is my fault. Therefore, I must go help him. Any questions?" Mia sighed.

"I have one!" Sage looked on and shrugged.

"OK."

"When the hell are you going to sit down and let us fix your wounds? And also, when are you going to learn that you can't do everything?" Sage glared at her as Rowen and Kento dragged him back to the couch. Cye simply watched, as Anubis tried to salvage the food and clean up the broken glass. Rowen continued cleaning Sage's cuts, as Mia went over to help Anubis. Cye walked over to White Blaze, petting the cat's head.

"White Blaze, can you sense Ryo? Could you tell us where he is? Cye asked as the cat nodded. Cye grinned.

"That's great Blaze!" He hugged the cat, who sighed at the way he was being treated like a giant stuffed animal.

"Guess what! Blaze can tell us where Ryo is!" Everyone turned to the boy and the cat.

"So can I." Sage muttered. His 6th sense had been going off in his head since he woke up. Rowen sighed as he brought his palm to Sage's forehead, just to check that everything as in order.

"Difference is Sage, you are not going." Sage's eyes went wide as he turned to Rowen.

"What do you mean?" Sage demanded as Rowen shrugged.

"I mean what I said. We can't risk them getting you and Cye as well."

"No way in hell and I staying here when Ryo's in trouble!" Sage exclaimed, resisting the urge to punch Rowen for even thinking of that.

"Sage, Ryo gave himself up to save you. There's something he's trying to tell you, which is not to get yourself taken. And the only way to ensure you're safe is to keep you here. Same goes for Cye. So you are going to stay here with Kento and Anubis, while Mia and I go get Ryo." Kento nodded in agreement, as well as Anubis and Cye, but Sage was slower to except.

"Well, what if they come here to get us? We're not safe anywhere you know." Rowen nodded.

"I know that. But there's a better chance for your safety if you're here, not there, OK?" Finally, Sage complied.

"Fine, but only for Ryo." Rowen nodded.

"Good. Now Anubis, I need you to fix up the rest of his wounds, just clean them with this rag, then dab them with the antibacterial cream. The deep ones will need to be bandaged, but don't worry about the little ones." Anubis nodded. Rowen turned to Mia.

"Come on Mia. Get your stuff ready. We're heading out to go save Ryo." Mia nodded as she grabbed a pair of daggers and slid them into hidden holsters in her boots. She reached into the nearest dresser and pulled out a pistol, checking to make sure it was loaded, as she slid it into a gun holster at her side that was keenly hidden under a baggy shirt. Rowen grinned as he ran off to get his bow and arrow. It was a small bow, and along with the quiver on his back was Sage's sword. Sage eyes him untrustingly, but Rowen laughed.

"In case I get into some close combat." Finally Sage nodded, as Rowen turned to Mia.

"Come on girl, it's time to get a move on! We have a Ryo to save!" They made their way to the door, as Blaze trotted up to their side.

"Rowen, we almost forgot the tour guide!" Rowen grinned as he patted Blazes side.

"Now we can go. Bye guys! Don't worry Sage, we'll get Ryo!" Rowen stated. Mia grinned.

"If were not back in two hours, wait longer! And if were not back in 6, then you can avenge our deaths!" Rowen laughed as he dragged Mia out the door, and Blaze followed, padding along beside them. Sage watched them leave and sighed.

"If they don't bring back Ryo…." He began, but he chose not to finish. Sighing, he lied back down and allowed Anubis to continue with the medication and bandages. Cye glanced around, suddenly very bored. He looked at Kento and grinned.

"Kento…" He began, as he tapped Kento's back.

"What is it Cye?" Cue grinned.

"You're it!" Cye the bolted out of the room, whale still in hands, as Kento laughed, and followed Cye out of the room.

To be continued….

A/N: Wow! I actually got one out that wasn't a week! /*Takes bow*/. Well, I hope you liked that chapter. It was fun enough to write. Especially Cye. He he he. Well, bye!


	15. The elusive quest for Ryo....

The Others- Chapter 15

"Duh duh duh….. duh duh duh….. duh duh duh….. duh duh." Mia felt a hand clamp over her mouth.

"This in not mission impossible, and it certainly isn't time to be humming loud enough for our enemies to hear!" Rowen exclaimed, as Mia hung her head.

"Sorry." Rowen sighed but said nothing. They were here to save Ryo, and they didn't want to waste time.

"Well they can't be that far away. This place isn't THAT big." Rowen laughed.

"Speak for yourself Mia." The red head shrugged. It was then they heard someone cry out in pain, and loud laughter.

"Looks like Sage taught me more then I thought!"

"Damn it! This boy bites as well!" Dais exclaimed as Rowen and Mia giggled quietly.

"At least his teeth aren't as sharp as that other boy's. And he's not actually wolf…." Cale snickered along with Ryo.

"You guys are wusses! Sage doesn't bite THAT hard!" Dais and Sekhmet turned to him in shock.

"Yeah right! He draws blood!" Ryo snuffed at the thought.

"Well, he doesn't hurt me." Sekhmet laughed.

"Oh, I wonder why?" Cale glared at the boy. Sekhmet was actually happy that Ryo was with the wolf boy. With the blonde taken, he could get back on track of making Cale his. He wanted Cale! His his his!

"Well, if you'll let me go, I have a boyfriend to get back to that you kinda took me away from before I could see if he was ok." Ryo stated as he casually walked over to the door. And as soon as he opened it, he was met with a beautiful but deadly face. He sighed and rolled his eyed. Kayura, of course.

"Aww man! Of all people…" He grumbled as he retreated back to his seat on the wooden chair that had been carelessly left in the middle of the otherwise barren room. 

"Well, little boy, it's been decided that you will be sent to this place, with out without the others. Talpa is mad that we haven't been cashing in your boys, despite the fact that we had two of you previously. So, we've decided to take you there, then we can go back and get your little boyfriend and the fish boy, and then we can cash you in and get a lot of money!" Ryo growled under his breath at the woman who merely laughed and walked over to Dais.

"Did the mean little tiger boy bite you?" Dais nodded solemnly as Kayura laughed.

"Poor thing, I'll make it all better later honey." Both Sekhmet's and Cale's eyes widened at the comment. Kayura grinned at the other two men.

"Well, come on boys, time to get tiger boy to his new home." 

"What?" Ryo exclaimed in shock, as the woman grinned. Before he could even think to react, his arms were tied together and his legs in the midst of being tied.

"Hey! This is not part of the entire escape plan!" He shouted as the Warlords smiled, bringing a gag to his lips and muffling his cried of protest. Immediately, in the warlord style, he was knocked upon the head as darkness claimed him.

~*~*~*~

"Sage, calm down!" Kento exclaimed, as he watched the boy pace back and forth his room.

"Something's wrong, and they aren't going to be able to get Ryo back, and then I'm not going to see Ryo again, oh god! This is so bad…" Sage froze.

"I have to go! You have to let me go!" He quickly bolted to the door, only to have Anubis stand in front of him, arms crossed across a broad chest. Sage whimpered pathetically, as he stormed up to his room like the angry teenager he was. Cye sat on the floor, Indian style, tossing his stuffed animal into the air, grinning while doing so. After Sage was gone from site, he stopped to speak.

"Ummm, Mr. Kento, Mr. Anubis, he's just going to leave from his window." It was then Cye went back to playing with his whale. Both men's eyes widened at the truth in the young boy's words. In unison, they bolted up the stairs, to fins that indeed the little boy was correct.

"Damn it! Why didn't Cye say anything earlier?" 

"Am I in trouble?" A tiny voice asked as Kento turned and sighed.

"No Cye, you aren't. Didn't mean to make you think you were. Just wondering why you didn't, that's all." Cye nodded, the stuffed whale, which he had begun calling "Ocrana", deep in his clutches.

"Are we going to go find Sage now? And Ryo too?" Cye asked softly as Kento nodded.

"Come on Anubis, you know just as well as I do that Sage can't take care of himself out there. Maybe if he was being sent into the wild, but in a city around humans? You know he'll get lost and be a hell of a lot of trouble." Anubis nodded.

"Well, I'm going to go get a backpack so that we can take some food, and money, and things we may need. With his ability to hide and usually, emphasis on usually, stay out of trouble, this might be harder and take longer then we think." Kento nodded in agreement.

"Come on Cye, we're going to go pack, and then we can go find Sage." The tiny auburn boy nodded as the other two men led him off, White Blaze at his side, having come with him when he pursued the men who had run up the stairs.

~*~*~*~

"Crap! Rowen, it's too late! They already are taking him! In fact, they already took him!"

"Mia, this is all your fault! I bet they heard you humming!"

"Me? You're the one that you can hear from a mile away because your shoes!"

"Shoes? You're one to talk Miss platforms!" 

"Will you two shut up?" Surprised, both whirled around to come face to face with Sage.

"Sage, what are you doing here?" Rowen hissed, as the blonde ignored him.

"Sage, you know that you're too hurt to be out here! Look at these cuts!" Mia traced her fingers down the cuts on his face as he winced.

"Sage, you have to go back! We'll go get Ryo. You just go back to Anubis and Cye and Kento." Sage shrugged.

"They're trying to find me, so they won't be there anyways." Mia sighed, along with Rowen.

"You ran away?" Sage shrugged once more.

"Why not? Ryo was taken because of me. He was protecting me from harm, and that makes it my fault. Henceforth, I should be the one going to save him."

"Sage, you need to go home." Sage sighed in anger.

"I should have known you'd act like his. Well if you don't seem to realize that Ryo is just about the only person I care about, and that I lo… care so much that I'd be willing to risk my life, then you don't know jack shit. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a boyfriend to save." It was then Sage bolted down the hallway.

"Sage! Come back!" Mia called after him, but she realized it was too late. The boy was already gone. Grumbling, Mia turned to Rowen.

"Well, I guess all we can do is try to find Ryo, then try to find Sage after that." The azure boy nodded.

"Come on Mia, let's go." She nodded in agreement as the two walked off.

~*~*~*~

Ryo groaned as he awakened, pain throbbing in his head, and his vision slightly blurred.

"Where am I?" Ryo stated as he glanced around the forest he was placed in.

"Crap!" He exclaimed as he realized where he was. Kayura hadn't lied about what they were going to do to him. He shivered. He did not want to be here in the slightest, especially without Blaze. Glancing around, he realized that this place was identical to the forest he had lived in before. They had gone to great extends to recreate his previous habitat. But unlike his Sage who was more then willing to go home (As long as he got to take Ryo, of course) and live in his old life, Ryo was enjoying these new things. Hamburgers, toys, Sage… Yes. That was what he missed mostly. Sage. His Sagey. His Blondie. His, his, his! He tried to shake off his possessiveness. For all he knew, Sage wasn't even alive. That blow had been fierce, and the boy had been bleeding a lot when Ryo had gone. 

Ryo wrapped his arms around himself, trying to think of better, happier thoughts that did not end in Sage's death. Unfortunately, with the fact that he was not in a good place now, bad was all he could think of. Shuddering, from fear or cold he didn't know, he began to walk in search of a water source. He was parched. Trudging along quietly, he listened for the sound of water. Finally, the tiny trickling of water falling off rocks came to his ear as he grinned. Water. He could sure go for some of that right about now. But these men were stupid. Unlike Sage who had hunted and killed, forging for his own food, and basically, though the wolves helped a bit, fended for himself as soon as he was old enough. Ryo had had Blaze to get the food. He himself had more searched for places to sleep, clean water, ect. So how the hell was he going to survive here with no Blaze? He sighed as he made his way down the bank of the creek. He suddenly laughed. This place was an exact replica of where he had been. In fact, it was the exact lake that Rowen had had his first run in with Sage. Ryo grinned. Sage and the wolf had kicked Rowen's ass.

Ryo allowed himself to sit on a rock, after drinking the water, and pull his knees to his chest. Burying his face into his legs, he began to cry softly.

~*~*~*~

Sage had stolen a bike. He knew that stealing was wrong, or at least that was what Mia had said when he tried to take an ice cream from the store, but he had simply licked it so she'd have to pay, and happily waltzed off, ice cream in hands. He smiled faintly. He'd just proven Mia's words to be true. He was the biggest troublemaker of them all. Well, it was his fault Ryo was gone, and it would be his job to go get the boy back At any cost.

To be continued…

A/N: *Cowers in fear* Please don't kill me for not writing! It's not that I haven't written a lot, that's hardly the case, I wrote 4 chapters of other stories that are not posted on ff.net, so it's not true I tell ya! And I swear that I'll TRY to work more on this one, but I have stupid standardized testing ad then finals in about 2 weeks. And if I ever post the one's I was working on, ones a Seiji/Ryo and ones a Seiji/Touma. Well, now I am REALLY over-due for "The Outcasts", so I better be on my way and working on that one! Bye bye! 


	16. 

The Others- Chapter 16 

"I am going to KILL that boy!" Anubis grumbled as Kento laughed along with Cye.

"Well, I'm sure he's where the warlords are. I mean, that's where Ryo is, right?"

Wrong.

The moment the trio arrived at the warlord's hideout, they ran right into Mia and Rowen.

"Have you seen Sage?" Both groups asked in unison, and then their questioned turned to a set of groans.

"Ryo was taken to a bunch of scientists, so that they could reenact the environment he used to live in. They want to observe him in his original habitat. Sage ran after them. I guess it would be in our best interest to go save BOTH of them." Mia stated as the others nodded in agreement. 

"Come on guys, let's go." 

~*~*~*~

So this was where they took his Ryo? Seiji thought to himself as he slowly crept around the corner of the large complex. He knew that Ryo was in there, he could tell. His senses flared wildly, the exact ones that had led him to first encounter Ryo.

He had dumped the bike on the side of the road near the building, in case he would need it again. With the Warlords lurking around, he had to be careful, or he may suffer the same fate as Ryo. Though maybe being caught and with Ryo would be better. He missed Ryo. He hoped they weren't hurting him. 

Slowly he opened the back entrance to the building, as he slid in. Glancing around in confusion, he realized that he was in a forest.

"What the?" He asked himself as he assessed the situation, and soon realized, to his shock, that this was his forest. Glancing around, his eye's laid on his cave, where his family usually dwelt. He glanced in side in hope, and realized that no, they were not there. Fake. It was all fake. He should have known better then to trust his eyes. They were only there for seeing, nothing else. This place was identical to his home, but it was not. Perking his ears, he tried to listen for something either living, or water of some sort. But, instead he heard something he hadn't expected.

Crying?

He knew that voice! Ryo! Sage bolted in the direction of the voice.

"Ryo?" He called out, waiting for a response.

"Sage…?" A small replay that sounded quite weak asked, as Sage grinned.

"Ryo, where are you?" Sage called out again as he ran towards where he thought the voice was coming for, and thankfully, he was right.

"Sage!" Sage ran up to his crying mass of a boyfriend, pulling him close, curiosity in pale violet eyed.

"Why were you crying?" He asked as Ryo blushed.

"I was scared. I mean, I thought that I couldn't survive without Blaze because he got me all my food, and then I thought that…" He voice trailed off leaving Sage in confusion.

"What else did you think?"

"Well, I thought that you might be dead, I mean you were bleeding a lot, and you were unconscious, and I was…. Scared." Sage smiled, pulling Ryo contently to his chest. He loved his Ryo. His sweet little Ryo. Well, not exactly little, but that was besides the point. His Ryo. Ryo nuzzled him softly.

"Sage, your face!" Ryo pointed out, finally noticing the gash that ran from his jaw to just below his eye. He shrugged.

"From the glass. It's fine though." Ryo nodded, glancing again at Sage's arm. It had yet to heal, but the blonde wouldn't stop doing things with it, and it had no way to heal with all the applied pressure.

"Well love, I can take you to where I came in. I think it's this way." Sage pointed in the direction he had come from. Ryo nodded. And followed the other boy, never letting go of Sage's hand, and making sure their fingers were entwined at all times. He would not lose Sage again. Sage led them through the forestry for some time, until he reached the door, using his good hand, he tried to open it, but the thing would not budge.

"What?" He asked aloud as he tried again to open the door.

"Ryo, it won't open! It only opens from the outside!" Ryo gasped.

"Damn it!" Sage nodded, as he tried to kick down the door. No matter how strong his legs were though, he was not going to be able to break down a heavy metal door.

"Shit…"

~*~*~*~

"Who is that other boy in there?" One scientist asked as he watched the two boys.

"Well, good sir, he's one of the other two boys! He was raised by wolves!" Kayura exclaimed. She and the other warlords had stayed for a bit; just to watch exactly what was going to happen to the cat-like boy. And for now, nothing very amusing had happened. But now that Sage had arrived… Cale watching in deep interest, as Sekhmet sighed. Not again.

"He's another one of the boys?" The scientist asked as she nodded.

"He was raised by wolves, as I have already said! He is a prize as well." The man nodded.

"Well, we have to separate them! This isn't a reenactment if they have another person with them!" Kayura shrugged.

"Well, that's your problem. We have our money, we've done our part, now we'll be on our way."

"Wait a minute!" The scientist called out, but the warlords were already gone, money in hand.

~*~*~*~

"Ok, so this is where they were taken, well, how do we get in? We can't just go through the front door and ask, I mean really!" Mia pointed out as Cye froze, stuffed animal in hand.

"Lookie! It's a bike! Didn't you say that Sage stole one that looked like that, Miss. Mia?" Mia turned to the direction that Cye was pointing in and smile.

"You're right Cye! That's his bike! Well, the bike he stole anyways…" Rowen laughed at the thought. Sage was such a troublemaker.

"Well, that means that he has to have gone in somewhere over there, because he's not over there, and like us, he couldn't have gone in through the main entrance." The others nodded I agreement. 

"Ok, well then lets go check it out!" Rowen exclaimed, as he ran over to the bike and the place that Sage had obviously used to enter the building.

"Guys. There's an entrance over here!" Kento pointed out as everyone ran over to him. Kento shrugged, and pulled it open, eyes meeting Sage's and Ryo's. Sage and Ryo were sitting against a tree, curled up against each other.

"Don't shut the door!" Sage cried out as Rowen leapt up, barely managing to keep it from closing.

"Why?" He finally asked as Sage sighed in relief.

"The door is locked from the outside. You can open it from out there, but not from in here." Rowen nodded in understanding. 

"Ok, we have to get going, come on you two! Who knows when someone will notice us?" Anubis pointed out as they nodded in agreement, Sage pulling Ryo to his feet. Together, all of them ran out of the building, and into a group of guards.

"Shit!" Ryo exclaimed as the others cursed in agreement. Sage and Ryo weren't going to be going anywhere for a while if the scientists got their way. Cye gasped in shock.

"What mean men! They won't let Sage and Ryo go home! How rude!" He exclaimed as he hid behind Kento, knowing very well that Kento could kick ass when it came to fighting.

"What the?" Ryo asked as he noticed his hands beginning to glow a fierce crimson. His eyes widened.

"Ryo!" Sage exclaimed, running over to the boy.

"You're glowing!" Ryo turned to look at Sage who was also glowing, but instead with a deep green aura.

"Uh, hon, you are too." Sage looked down at himself and yelped. Glancing up, he realized that it was not just himself and Ryo; it was Cye, Kento, and Rowen as well.

"What the hell is going on?" Kento demanded, as he looked at his glowing hands. The scientists could only watch in shock at the transformation before them. Mia watched in horror like the rest, but to her amazement, Anubis was perfectly fine with what was happening.

"Anubis? Why isn't this freaking you out?!" She demanded, as he laughed.

"Don't worry, they'll be fine. They're just learning a little bit more about themselves." Mia looked at him in confusion, but chose to listen to his judgment call. Mia watched as the simple auras took on shapes, turning into five armors. She watched as finally the glowing objects took on a solid form, cladding each man in armor.

"What the hell just happened?" Mia asked, to which no one but Anubis knew the answer.

To be continued….

A/N: well, that was much needed! I know that took FOREVER and the chapter is still as short as ever, but as it was before, I have SO many other stories (You don't believe me, go to my friend Shadow's site…) and I have been trying to finish them all, and it's really hard, and this one is getting really long and strenuous, and I figured this was a good way to get to a point where I can finish this fic. And if I have time, maybe I can do a sequel, if you want that is! 

Ok, I have two questions. When posting a sequel to a fic, would you post it as its own story, or would you just add it to the first story (Err…. short book actually)? And the other thing is, I know that for warlord/Ronin fans, there aren't many on ff.net (Except Summerstarr's, we love you dear!) and I know that DarknessReigns is a Sage/Cale fan. Well, I have one story (My ONLY Ronin/Warlord story, written for Shadow!) And I would never post it, so Darkness, would you want to read it? Well, bye bye and thank you! Again, sorry for the wait!


	17. The End! Go me!

The Others- Chapter 17

"Ok Anubis, be a good little boy, and explain what the hell is going on!" Anubis sighed.

"Mia, be patient! There are some things that the boy's have to do and get used to on their own. Being a Ronin warrior is no exception."

"A Ronin warrior? Explain!" Calmly, the red haired man pointed to the group of awed youth.

"I think that does it all." Mia sighed in annoyance as she hit Anubis upside the head.

"Don't be an idiot. Why do they have the armor?"

"They were chosen, of course."

""Of course?" do not get snide because you tend to be a little more filled in on details then I ever am."

"That's because you never pay enough attention to get the details."

"Hey! You just insulted me!"

"Well, duh!" The woman growled as she prepared to lunge at the other man.

"Will you two stop it? We are glowing, in this weird armor, totally confused, and we wanna know just what the hell is going on! Now Anubis, you have five minutes to explain, or we're using you as a practice dummy for this new armor!" Anubis sighed as he turned to the speaker, Rowen.

"It's a long story. In short, you were simply chosen to be the wielders of your armors. It means that either through your family, or through being chosen, you have inherited the armor. So, in the long run, you are Ryo of the Wildfire, Sage of the Halo, Rowen of the Strata, Kento of the Hardrock, and Cye of the Torrent." Kento laughed faintly.

"Hardrock. That's SO funny." Mia's face contorted into one of disgust.

"Eww! BAD mental picture!" Kento laughed hardily.

"Now, Anubis, explain this again. If we were chosen for this armor, then why did we get it now, instead of earlier?" Rowen asked softly as Anubis sighed.

"You've never needed it till now."

"Well, then what is now that makes us need it now?" Sage asked curiously, noting with distaste that the armor enhanced his skills, yet he couldn't curl up if he was in it.

"You need it now because the war is upon us."

"War?" Rowen asked in concern, as Anubis nodded.

"Talpa." Sage glanced around in confusion. What was a "war"? Deciding not to sound stupid, he said nothing, instead pulling off the helmet and letting his head rest against Ryo's. The good thing about being taller, he mused.

"How do we take it off?" He whispered to Ryo, hoping that maybe the other boy would be a little more educated on these things. Ryo shrugged softly, bringing his metal covered finger to the other boy's lips.

"Just listen. Anubis is explaining everything." Sage nodded as turned to the man who had become the object of everyone's attention.

"The war. Your armors are part of the set of nine that makes up Talpa. A long time ago, Talpa tried to bring on the destruction of the world, but the powers of a man we call the ancient managed to defeat Talpa, and in turn, broke the all powerful armor into 9 individual ones, sending them around the world. Now, how they suddenly came to you, I'm not sure. But anyways, that's the story. You five are destined to fight to save the world."

"But what if we don't want to take that risk?" Cye asked cautiously, waiting for a response.

"Then the world will die. Be destroyed. Be gone. So, it's up to you." Cye's sea green eyes widened.

"Well, we can't allow the worlds death to lie on our shoulders, now can we?" The others nodded.

"Anubis, is there any way for you to explain to us how to get these things off of us?" Ryo asked for Sage as Anubis nodded.

"All you need to do is concentrate and what you do will come." Ryo shrugged as he turned to Sage, and noticed that the blonde was no longer armor clad, and the only remains of his outfit being a small green orb.

"Sage, how did you…?" The blonde smiled.

"Just call it off." Ryo shrugged, concentrated, and noted that he could now feel Sage's body molded against his. He turned and looked at the others, as they one by one removed their armors. Ryo smiled.

"Well, what are we called again?" Anubis smiled.

"The Ronin warriors, Wildfire." Ryo smiled softly, wrapping his left arm around the surprised Sage's waist.

"Well then, Ronins, to arms!" 

The End 

_ _

A/N: *Runs and cowers for life* I cannot believe how lame I was in not doing this! I mean, how long has it been? A month? A month and a half? Two months? Ok, everyone get in line and take a number for beating me up! Well, I think that I better go work on "Shards of the Past" (ACTUALLY work) Sorry that I haven't written…. But I've been working on my latest adventure (A GW/RW x-over) And It's been taking up my time! Well, bye bye and hope you don't kill me! ~Angel
    
    PS: [http://www.shadowmoon.fr.st][1] is the site where my one Cale/Sage story is! And Darkness, it's "Love Ties". And go read Shadow's stuff too, because she's cool and French and she writes well. And all my other stuff's up there, but we won't go into some of that… Anyways, just click on the little flag on the top and voila, it is in English (NOT the little French flag, the American one!) 

   [1]: http://64.4.14.250:80/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=8f7f50a173c91f0ba99887d2ab28363f&lat=993227351&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eshadowmoon%2efr%2est



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